Mohammad Elshinawy – Best of Stories – Study of Surat Yusuf 01
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of learning and researching to identify the right person to ask for. They stress the need to search for truths and discover what's one doesn't know. The speakers also emphasize the importance of knowing what one doesn't know and not just knowing what one doesn't know. The speakers emphasize the need for clarity in writing and the importance of serving the region. They also discuss the use of Arabic language in English and political and social implications of learning it. The segment emphasizes the importance of learning to serve the function of the region and the need to remember that people in their time already knew the message.
AI: Summary ©
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Smilla hamdulillah salatu salam ala Rasulillah for learning you're so happy to join We begin in the name of Allah old Praise and Glory be to Allah and mais find his peace and blessings be upon His messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and his family and his companions, every last one of them.
We welcome everyone to our new series in sha Allah, the best of stories, a study of Surah Yusuf
and in sha Allah Allah, we will spend a few weeks
a few minutes each week actually
studying a few I had a few passages in order in sha Allah of Surah Yusuf until however long Allah has written for us to continue this series in shallow Tana. So we began with the
opening of the surah after seeking refuge with Allah from Shaytaan, The rejected
or the exile to begin the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful the grantor of mercy subhanho wa Taala Allah azza wa jal begins his Surah saying, Elif Lam RA and these are three of the letters of the Arabic alphabet. These are known as a hurtful mocha throughout the Quran, the disjointed or disconnected letters throughout the Quran. And the majority position, the majority of the Sahaba of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam were of the view that these Ruth Ruth Macaca, these disjointed letters do not have a meaning that is accessible to us that is known to us. In other words, they are secret, a secret that Allah azza wa jal did not allow us to access in this life, no matter how hard
we investigate. There are other positions, but this is the dominant position, the majority position among the Sahaba and the scholars after them. They will remain vague to us no matter how much we research and investigate.
And for a book of guidance, this should call our attention to what is this guiding us to because the Quran is for Hidayat, it is for who that it is for guidance for those seeking out guidance. But how can there be guidance in something that is unknowable? What's it telling me? It's telling you a lot. There's a great lesson here. A deep lesson in submitting to Allah azza wa jal.
Even the things that you don't know. Isn't that a powerful lesson isn't that what Islam is all about to begin with? Isn't not enough that we know that Allah subhanho wa Taala
said them, we know that Allah azza wa jal is where they emanate from for us to accept them. That is part of the the test of faith, the assessment of faith, that am I going to reject out of my heart what I have not been able to comprehend with my mind. Because your mind your rationale can only evaluate and accept that which it has experienced. But the heart is that involves the test of the unseen that which you have not experienced. And so how can you begin to assess it? And that's why you find by the way, in Surah, Ali Imran when Allah azza wa jal tells us that it is deliberate. Of course, it is deliberate, but it reminds us that it's deliberate. So we don't forget that there are
certain verses in this Quran that are Kemet
that are clear cut definitive in their implications who Nome would Kitab they are the core of the book. We'll call them watershed Behat and others that are undefined or ambiguous. And then Allah azza wa jal says
that those who are Rossio
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deeply seated deeply rooted in knowledge you have coluna men vehicle luminary in the Rabina they say we have accepted it all. They don't differentiate like, Hey, what's this? Okay, that makes sense. But what's this, of the greatest signs of knowledge is knowing what you don't know, knowing that there are certain things you will never know.
Coolum in India Rabina they say we believe in it all, because it all comes from our Lord. subhanho wa taala.
Also, it is it even sharpens your mind. It sharpens your mind as well. To remember that there are things out there you don't know and you will continue not knowing. And that you some of which you may discover, and some you may never discover.
You know, when it comes to the discoverable, the things you can learn in life, there are only discoverable if you're trying to discover them.
In one sense, some people think so many things in their life are said and done are finalized are absolute truths. When they're not, there are absolute truths in life. Of course, Allah azza wa jal is the Absolute Truth. His religion is the Absolute Truth, a little bit of being for rock as absolute truth.
My kindness to parents isn't absolute. There are certain things that are given for sure that up to negotiations, but compared to everything else in life, so many things in life, even many a times understandings of the deen they are not absolute truths.
Because we have not confirmed for certain that they're from the deen just yet. It could be a fault line in my understanding. And so not stamping everything is a concrete absolute throwing everything in that bucket, the same bucket of Allah is 100 it has sought those times a prophet, that is extremely helpful for you to constantly remember there are things I may need to reconsider. There are things I should keep an open mind with, you know, I'm going to act on what is most likely, but it doesn't mean it's certainty. I'm only going to act on that because I have to act on that I can't wait to live I'm absolutely positive. That No, I just have to work on greater likelihood whenever
certainty is absent. But you need to remember that certainty many times is absent that will open you up to learning so much more or also have a very shallow ceiling. And so these we can benefit from these eight that we don't know the meaning to to remind us of all the other things that we don't know the meaning of will never know the meaning of or have not yet ascertain the meaning of so it does sharpen our mind as well. Our chef Dr. Hyman hedge.
He used to say very eloquently that
having misplaced concreteness, like misplaced certainty thinking things are certain when they're not, he says is an intellectual handicap. But Alif Lam raw Elif Lam, Meem cough hammy Alif Lam Meem saw these is to remind us that there is always going to be a category that we should be open to.
Learning about if learning about it becomes a possibility when learning about it becomes a possibility. So you can benefit through that from Allah azza wa jal more and you can benefit from not even from his creation.
It is huge intellectual and spiritual humility is absolutely necessary for you to move forward in your life to develop more and more as one of my Musharraf was when he was criticized recently for, for changing his views on some issues. He said, It would be an absolute shame that in 20 3040 years of continued learning, I haven't changed any of my views. That means what that I got it right the first time around all of it, that's impossible, it means that I am being too hard headed to benefit from what I'm learning and take things back. And in state what is what I discovered to be correct later on. And so that is something we can definitely learn. Then the I add, continue Tilka I had to
Kitab in morphine are the same. This is still the first verses sort of use of these are the verses of the Clear Book. That's how it's usually translated this idea, but that's not exactly what this is saying. This is saying what Tilka those are the verses of the Clear Book, it doesn't say heavy or heavy hula, these because there's a particle for that which is distant or that which is up close. It is even though the Quran is right in front of us. We're reading it right now. We've already started the recitation, why is it till que al Kitab in Moby and some scholars call their attention to this, they said we kind of see this as a pattern also, that in the beginning of subtle data, for example,
Allah azza wa jal says, then we can Kitab that, not this that is a book in which there is no doubt. So why are these particles of speech used that to refer to or gesture to
That which is distant. When the Quran is open in front of us in our palms, our eyes are on it. It's within view. Perhaps of the benefit of this is that Allah azza wa jal wants us to remember that his words are something very, very, very far. He's, in what sense their rank is very high. They transcend human speech, their reality their their imitability. Their profoundness is something beyond us. And so these are not
ordinary meanings.
And so while our eyes are locked on the letters, and we can even see the vowels and we can imitate to them or like reproduce them with our own mouths, we need to realize that this speech is not like human speech. It's not like anyone's speech, it's not like all of humanity speech combined.
Then he says, those are the verses right of the Clear Book. clarity in the book is something that is highlighted throughout this glorious book, you know, when converts to Islam are surveyed, and I have personally conducted some many surveys in in my life.
One of the most commonly responded with answers when asked why are you Why did you choose to become Muslim? They would say the clarity, the simplicity, the straightforwardness, the accessibility of the message of Islam is its greatest appeal.
They say like this is talking about these huge issues
in such simple way, such straightforward way and also in such emotive way like you ever heard, scientists debating on like minutiae and nuances you ever heard like philosophers going after each other, you know in polemics. It is very dry, it is very stiff, it is very hard to keep up with to the end of it, right? Allah Zilla, Jen
escaped both and no one ever does that's really like you can hear people and they see things sometimes like poets, for example. In any language, you say, Wow, that person has very high emotional intelligence, just like to imagine that scene to word it in such a thoughtful way. That is the product the fruit of high emotional intelligence. And then you hear other people the way they they analyze, and then they synthesize, they produce their own thoughts. You say, Wow, that is clearly the fruit of a different
level of thinking that that is a critical mind, a unique one. And but the Quran then comes and it
it addresses all of these huge issues like theological issues and ethical issues and civilizational imperatives and addresses all of that in such a straightforward way, but such a nuanced way. And with such emotive force, like conceptual clarity, and then emotive force, you know, Dr. Abdullah DRaaS Rahim, Allah who has an amazing book, I'm not sure if it's translated into English or not, it's called the nebo volume, the great news, which is one of the, the,
in reference to the Quran, one of the
what is the word one is the one of the names of the Quran and never lovely, the great news. So he says this example actually, he says, you know that you see the product of a sharp mind, you see the product of a of a sensitive
heart, but to see both of these fruits growing on the same branch out of the same tree, that is something remarkable, he says, and that's what Allah did. He was the only one able to combine between coal and fossil decisive speech clarity on matters that are very difficult to be clear on. And like to surgically fine tune ly address, and between the gentlemen who do the Lydian have shown, it causes the hearts and the skins of those who fear their Lord to tremble. And so that's one of the most beautiful aspects of the Quran
and then clarity the importance of clarity, not just in Quran when you're discussing things with people, you know, I got caught trying to be flamboyant once in college. I didn't have much substance in the essay and so I filled it with big words. But one of the greatest professors that I that I respect for that for catching me on that because not everyone did.
He basically like said, you know, get this paper out of my face.
And he said,
he wrote on the back of it, he said, like a good writer does not write simple concepts in complex words, he writes
complex concepts in simple words.
And so one of the signs that you've mastered a subject is that you're able to explain in simple in simple terms. And so if you're not explaining Islam, to people in simple terms, then either it is because maybe you're still early on in your Knowledge Check. But it could also be that you're trying to be flashy.
You're trying to impress them, not guide them. And that is a possibility that we have all fallen into that. And we should be very careful you know, when you're too wordy or too verbose. Remember that clarity in Allah's message is one of the most defining characteristics of his message. Even many of our scholars in our history may have
overlooked this and they were too
stiff or too verbose or too mystical in their writing that they missed out on a huge cross section of their of their audience, potential audience and widening their sphere of benefit. So remember, this is a clear book, then Allah Zilla, Jen said
tdkr took third movie in Niger Indians and now put on Arabi, we sent it down as an Arabic Quran so that you may understand
it's interesting, right? That the Quran is a book for everyone, and it's universal and its message. And
yet it's only Arabic and Quran like people
may say, like, Why didn't Allah azza wa jal send it in a different language? Well consider the possibilities possibility one is he sends in a different language that's not Arabic.
That's still going to be a problem for the people that don't speak that other language that you identify. There is no universal language that all human beings speak.
And then someone can say, But why then can't Allah if Allah can do everything, send it down in unlimited languages send down all the languages of the world. So every single person will have their own Quran? Sure, but then it won't be a clear book because every language language is the product of psychology, it is the product of mindsets, right? It's your expressions of your understandings. And so if you send it down in different languages, that means it will have a different understanding different implications for every single people have and Allah azza wa jal wanted to bring people to a particular understanding that he knew would be best relayed the perfect you know,
prism through which to see the messages of the Quran, the guidance that he wished to revealed was the Arabic language. Well, Allahu Allahu
Allah knows best way to place his message that was the wisest thing to do, in another language wouldn't have solved the problem in all of the languages would have not made it a Book of guidance, because there would have been no way to referee between which implication was meant we needed a definite reference point. And so he chose that reference point to be the most suitable language to get the message across. And at the same time, the core of the message was something that he knew would not need you to understand Arabic to be able to access like the fundamentals of though he the the, the Islamic ethical framework on a substantial but fundamental, fundamental, but substantial
level, all of that.
And we sent it down as an Arabic Quran so that you may understand it, you know, interestingly, we find that also throughout the Quran, we've sent it down as an Arabic Quran, we sent it down as an Arabic Quran, this verse, or set of verses is almost like an alarm for the people that read the Quran in another language like, by the way, feel free to you know, read the translation, but I am not the original, you know, no one can ever swap out the Quran and assume any other book is any equivalent because there'll be reading in translation.
We have sent it down in Arabic, like you'll be reading in English, we have sent it down in Arabic. And so that helps people mitigate maybe the the frustration they have or the the disconcerted, pneus they have when
they find a meaning that doesn't sit well with them. So maybe there's another implication and they're right, many times they're right.
translations are an explanation in another language of what the explainer understood from the Arabic. Also, it's almost like a
what do you call it like an anti theft mechanism? You know, subhanAllah like colonists, imperialists, and otherwise, when they tried to distance people from the Islam that had such a command over their lives and had
was such a roadblock for the colonial project, the ideological invasion, that, you know, is what makes any colonial Imperial project longer lasting, where you imperialize The minds of the people, not just you know, militarily that comes in the end and that is not sustainable. So, this thwarted their ability to move people away from the Quran, there are people that outlawed Arabic, by the way, like what's happened at the end of the Ottoman caliphate. Arabic was outlawed, you have to recite the Quran in Turkish, but imagine reciting the Quran in Turkish and the reciting in Turkish, I can't say it in Turkish. This is an Arabic Quran we have sent it down in Arabic Quran, it made the return
and the about face to looking for the Arabic original inevitable and so great is Allah who preserved his book in amazing ways.
And of course, you know of the lessons here is that the importance of of studying Arabic so scholars like Imam Shafi, Allah and Potamia Rahim Allah and others, they they go to great lengths to talk about the necessity of every Muslim like further in every Muslim is individually obligated to do their best to learn a degree of Arabic to better their comprehension
of Islam.
And you know, a secondary benefit is that it has profound political and social significance to learn Arabic as well, because it's like the cementing force, you know, the more you have things in common, the naturally
existing jail that will happen, you know, if I'm a police officer, and I don't know that other police officer across the street, but we're both in uniform that in and of itself will make it more likely for me to cross the street and have a cordial conversation exchanged names right. So the more commonality there is,
the more warmth there is in the fabric.
And so Allah azza wa jal chose for Arabic to be that that cementing force as they say,
for this global trends, historical OMA the fact that we can say As salam o alaikum to each other, then imagine you have a few more commonalities with that you we all know the apostle is referring to, we all know what Allahu Akbar is referring to, or Subhanallah is referring to, and the more we do that, the deeper more meaningful our bond becomes.
The last verse we will discuss quickly before we sign out, a lot of Xeljanz said in the story na na casa like axon Casa see the Mau hyena Ilica Al Quran, we have sent or relayed to you the best of stories, does that mean that the stories we chose
are the best of stories? That's part of it? Does that mean considering the story of Yusuf is about to start, that this story here is the absolute best of stories? Some scholars have said this is debatable. It's possible.
But what several, many scholars have said of them in the same era. Hanalei read His words in particular, what's meant here is not just the story, meaning which of the stories, the selection of stories, it is also about the way the story is being told. So in other words, we have relayed to you the best of stories, meaning we've relayed to you, these stories in the best fashion is actually what's intended here. And so what Allah told us
is the best possible thing for us to know to serve the function of what this book came to carry us through and Tori's and what he did not tell us of those stories, while he's telling us his stories is also part of the greatness of the story, that there is no fillers, no unnecessary information.
There is no
all have the deficiencies of the stories that humans sell. And so that is what is meant here that you when you read a story in the book of Allah azza wa jal realize that Allah said it in a certain place in a certain way, and mentioned certain things and removed or omitted certain others very deliberately with perfect wisdom. And so that should be a great catalyst for you to reflect deeply look behind each word which is the meaning of the devil. Alright, so that book, reflecting, pondering deeply means look at the book, look at the back end meanings, what's behind each word. And also realize that in the greatest book of guidance ever, the Quran 1/3 of the Quran is stories,
Allah is spent 1/3 of his book telling us stories about the previous nations about us will be recurring in the human experience, what will occur on the Day of Judgment, all the scenes, all these incidents, what does that tell you about the importance and the power of storytelling? And it's not just for children, and what does that tell you about the fact also
that people that fear they
We'll be decreasing diminishing from their, their intellectual Ness, their intellectual vigor, by you know, declining to mention a story here and there are actually many times at least,
duped into a full tactic, a faulty tactic. And then he ends it by saying, the best of stories and before this before we reveal this information, so you the stories to you, you are among those that are unaware, you need to always remember that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam bringing a book that was clearly the product of communicating with God is not something that we discover in 1950 or 2000. With scientific this and archaeological that we Yes, we will continue to find layer upon layer of staggering evidence that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam could not have known these things on his own. But always remember that the people in his time already conceded, even if
they found excuses later, some of them to not accept his message and say the message didn't apply to me. But his message contains so much information of it is the information of lost knowledge, the knowledge of the last nations, the perish nations, that it was enough for them to say this man could not have gotten this from anywhere else, but God. So in the case of sort of use of, you know, some
dfcm books mentioned, you know, books on his Quranic commentary that the Jews came, and they said, they knew they knew the Arabic world had no access to, you know, the stories of the quote unquote, Old Testament, right? And so they said, you want to stump Muhammad, basically, you want to, like prove that he's making stuff up, go ask him how the Israelites, the children of Jacob, the tribes of Israel,
wound up in Egypt. And so
a one liner that was accurate, would have been shocking to them. Imagine when he they thought they were going to deal the killer blow with that question to the, to the message of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, to the mission to the prophethood to the followers of Muhammad Sallallahu arias. And so they take this question the Jews and they go on to ask him, How did the Israelites ever wind up in Egypt? Hmm. And he unravels for them 110 I met with like surgically accurate detail. And that's why so many of them just conceded the scholars of the Jews and Christians in his time said this man's a prophet, but for the Arabs or for us or something like that, but they could not get
past it. Because as Allah said, You were totally unaware the whole world was unaware
of this message of these facts, it's lost knowledge and so we revealed it to you.
The last point on this before revealing that you were totally unaware is that this is not exactly what the Quran is saying.
The Quran is not saying you are unaware of these stories before we reveal them to you. It says before we reveal them to you, content Minella feeling you're among those unaware and that is of the the gentle instructional address of Allah to His Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So Al qassimi, the great FCF scholar he said that Allah chose not to use the word Gehenna ignorant with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam out of respect and honor for his rank,
teaching us to respect his rank. But then Allah didn't even use the word of often often means what unaware or heedless? You know, even we'll get back to what heedless means.
Or not. Let's just do it. Now. There's two types of heedless. There's you being unaware due to negligence that's blameworthy against you, and unaware because of humaneness. There was no way you could have known. So if Allah azza wa jal would have called him unaware, because there's no way he could have known it would not be held against him. But Allah didn't even do that. He said, among those unaware, so he didn't say ignorant, nor did he say, unaware, he said, among those unaware to dilute it like you, and in this, you're like everybody else who else would have known everybody's barred from this information, or not to reveal it.
And so he said, among those that were unaware, and so we should always, when we hear the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam his name.
Be extra careful to not be casual about his
unparalleled rank his matchless rank sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So when we hear his name, we say sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when we speak about him, we speak about him with his Honorific Titles, meaning the Prophet of Allah, the Messenger of Allah,
or any other honorific title has been established about him.
And also when you hear about him from others, when you hear
without him from others, or you read about him from others like in a book, and you can't quite understand what this hadith means you are to raise his rank above interpreting that understanding that
in a way that could ever be held against him in a way that could ever be understood as blameworthy in his right sallallahu alayhi wasallam that's why I live in Avatar live and certainly the manager.
He said, either had to come and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam whenever I narrate you something, but the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for one newbie he Levy who
then assume about that narration, that which is
he said,
there who were an
accent, who had that, who was on call that which is best and most guided.
Now, who, then who won't call that which is most pleasant and most rightly guided and most pure, meaning
he has a very high rank that if anything is going to tarnish that rank, then the problem is here, the problem is not there. His rank can never
be put a dent in it, he salatu salam, so we should be more critical of our criticism, more critical of our assumptions than we are ever critical of him. And that is the edit the etiquette with our prophets, Allah Allahu alayhi wa sallam that Allah taught us. And this verse is just or this wording of that is only an indirect or a subtle reminder of his noble rank, and his honorable station. salat wa salam ala Zack Hello. Hi everyone.
If there are any questions, there are not so we'll leave them be it Nila. They're the reminders and we'll see you all next week in sha Allah to Allah Subhana Allah Allah We have Nick shadow Allah Allah Allah and Christopher Khanna to break Salam on Aiko.