Tafseer of Juz Amma – Surah At-Tin (The Fig), The Best and the Worst of Mankind
Ramadhan (2017/1438) Lecture Series by Sheikh Muhammad West, Imam of Al-Awwal Masjid, Cape Town, South Africa
Muhammad West – Ramadan 2017 – Episode 8
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We live in a shaytani r rajim Bismillah R Rahman Rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa salatu salam ala COVID mursaleen Sayidina Muhammad Ali, he was a big man, my beloved brothers in Islam and Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
How y'all doing? Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Allah subhanho wa Taala granted us to, to make it through to the weekend, during this month of Ramadan, Allah subhanho wa Taala accept the efforts is not easy. And everyone is feeling very tired, struggling to keep your eyes open. But behind all of this is part of increasing the rewards and we said it's only 30 days, eight of them already basically have seven of them done only another maybe 2122 days left. And that is the distance between us and Jenna and sha Allah give us that little effort that extra effort whatever we have in the tank in sha Allah, we want to get the two gentlemen I mean, we continue with our series this
stuff seed of juice ammo, the end of the pseudos have to connect and get the appreciation of the Quran. And tonight inshallah we'll be discussing the 95th Surah Surah, two teen the surah of the fig surah to the surah of the fig. And let's recap one of the two things that we've learned so far. We've mentioned the vowels the customs, like what lately was Shamsi what,
when Allah vows Allah swears by these things, Allah saying I swayed by the sun, by the moon, by the heavens by the earth, and usually what comes after it, what the what we call the job the answer of the of the vow. So for example, if someone says I Sui waiting, usually what it says I just say, Well, I will lie something. So it's very important to understand that because the vows in the surah a bit confusing and the allameh struggled to understand why did Allah choose these things to sway by and now I want you to take a few fears and put on your thinking caps to try and I want you to think about these these vowels. Allah selected a few things to sway by Allah soul by this debt and the
other. Why did he choose that? So are the Villa shaytaan rajim Bismillah R Rahman Rahim Allah begins what to me was a tune, I swayed by the fig, and by the I swayed by these two fruits, the fig and the olive. And these two flutes on the own are mentioned in the Sunnah and in the Quran, even as being Blizzard sort of to know Allah speaks about a blizzard three and this being an Aleph three and the oil that comes from it. So these fruits on their own are Blizzard and perhaps Allah chose these to mention these two fruits because that they have a high place their fruits from Jenna and the purity in that that's one view. But the majority sees these a deeper meaning to that. So on their own by
the fig and by the of Allah takes a vow by these two things. So let's move on to the next area.
What Tina was a tune by the fig and the olive. What do we see Nene and I sway by Mount Sinai?
Valerie, I mean, and I swear by this sacred or safe city. So the sacred and safe city is Makkah the surahs revealed in Makkah. So Allah vows by four things by the fig, the all of Mount Sinai and Makkah, are what do these four things have in common? What is the relationship between them? Does anyone have an idea? What could be what what is the purpose of a selected these things? Definitely maca. We know the significance of Mark Alhamdulillah. What's the significance of Mount Sinai
of one?
No. Well, that's a very important point to remember as the answer to something else, right, as the correct answer to the wrong question.
Mount Sinai is when a B mu solicitous allometry got the revelation, right to receive a nap or to the scene. This is the place where Allah sent His revelation to Nabi Musa. So the letter to the place we will never be moussaka to Revelation maca with the profits of some received revelation. Now is the perhaps a link between the first to the fig and the olive, and even Ibis, and this goes back to the oldest of mufa serien. They said, while the olive grove, what do we know about all of us? Where do they come from? Palestine. So the olives we know is synonymous with Palestine. And this even in the Bible, you'd find though in the toe in the Injeel that Nagisa made Sala in the olive grove and even
till today, the olive groves or the amount of the olives is still it's still the in Palestine and the fruit the olive is synonymous with Jerusalem. So now we saw we've got three cities, we've got three locations Makkah, Palestine and Mount Sinai. What about the fig and the order, man?
mentioned that the place that you find things is as the brother mentioned, Mount Judy, the place where the ark and have a new Ark came to settles Allah mentions in the Quran that the ark have now been settled on Mount Judy. And this is a place which you find figs. So Allah is basically mentioning these two fruits synonymous with this place. For example, if I were to say, by the coup sister and the bunny Chow and you know you talk about Cape Town and Durban right, similarly, Li saying by the fig and the olive and the tipsy and this is goes back to the oldest stuff we've seen that's not modern Tafseer the oldest of Nova city and even if you open even kefir, you'll find it.
Many of them say that the fig is synonymous with mount Judy, with an ox settled. The Olive is synonymous with Jerusalem. Mount Sinai is way Nabi Musa received revelation and Makkah of course being with the prophets of Salaam received revelation. And these four locations are synonymous with full profits are five profits. And these five profits is the relationship between them. They're called the EU. So you have Nabis profits in the elite of the NBA are called rule messengers and the base of the messengers the base of the base of five, the five, the five greatest men that walked the face of the earth, Navy nor Navy below him. That'd be mooser, Navy Isa and Avi Mohammed salatu
salam, and these locations mount Judy for NaVi New Jerusalem for NaVi Isa Mount Sinai for NaVi NaVi SF one Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai will now be Mussa, Jerusalem for NaVi Isa and mecca for NaVi Ibrahim and Abby Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
So let's see the first scene say that these four things Allah is vowing actually by these four prophets. Why, why would he mention these four men? Now remember, we said the vow is not important. It's what follows the vow. The verse that comes next is what these four things should link up to. But before I get to that verse, I want to talk a little bit about human psychology. I want to talk about psychology. And we got a bit of psychology in sort of shrimps and surah, two lane, we all know basically says, I've given you enough that is balanced, and that it knows what is right and wrong. And if you keep to what is right, what your enough's knows is right and you protect it, then you
will be successful. But this nafs also has the ability to become corrupt, and to become impure, and who does allow these knifes to become impure, when he will, he will be lost.
Psychology is the study, originally, the word psychology was the study of the soul. Today, psychology is the study of the mind. And if you look at modern psychology, house psychology, it's the study of us people, and what it has evolved from. So initially, the psychologists from the Greeks, the Indians, the Chinese, the atoms, they were concerned with the soul. They said, This body is not really what makes us special, it's the route inside. But over the past 100 years, 200 years, science has basically separated between the body and thrown away the concept of the soul. And today psychologists will tell you, basically, what are we we are a bunch of chromosomes, evolved animals,
and we only our objective and our focus is animalistic, that there is no higher purpose, there is no higher power, there is no God or afterlife. Everything you do is basically an evolved sense of an animal, that you want to look beautiful because you want to procreate, that you want to work hard to get money so that you can be the alpha male, or you could feed yourself. This is what Psychology Today teaches us that we are just here evolved animals like Darwin said, Well, basically, we evolved monkeys, and our position on earth is just to be here for a few years, there is no focus of the afterlife. So you might as well make the bait the most of what you can in this world. And that's the
end of it. That's modern psychology. And that's where we are today as human beings. We are at the most advanced state that we have been in terms of Science and Technology. But in terms of understanding ourselves, while we have gone back, and if we look at today, we may claim to be Are we really the most advanced creatures on this planet? When we look at our track record, we destroy this planet? If you look at the news, what we do to girls and women's panel, animals don't do these things. What are we doing to our environment? What are we doing to each other? How are we killing one another in the Middle East? Animals don't do this. And what is this link between what I'm what
I'm talking about and the surah. So Allah mentions the five greatest men that walk the face of the earth, the most perfect of individuals and then Allah suis basically buy them and then the next ayah Allah says Lakota Hakuna insanity as Anita cwieme that surely I swear that I have created mankind human beings in the very best of stature.
In the most perfect of stature, now this is big words coming from the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who made the planets, the moons, the suns, the angels, do you believe he said, I have made man, the very best top of the food chain of all my creations, we know that maybe Adam was in fact made but Allah subhanho wa Taala his own hands in a manner which be footsies majesty.
Now the alama and from this idea, and we're going to digress now, these two CDs that flow through till the end of the end of the surah
when Allah says that He created man in the best of stature and form is Allah speaking about the physical body of men, or something additional to him, he sold his room, what do you think?
Right, and both will be applicable. So one group of 18 said, Allah is talking about men's physical stature, being perfect being the best model, the base type of creation that is that is created. The other group of movie scenes is no Ally's talking about the room. And they mentioned that a lot created maybe Adam and Adam stood like a statue, our Father, Adam, Clay statue in Jana, for a long period of time. But when Allah blew the soul into nebia, Adam, that's when Allah says to the angels mix suju to nebby Adam, and if I, if God is making suju to man, then by extension, the whole universe is subservient to this great creation of Allah. So Allah says, I made men in the most
perfect and based off statues, either spiritually or physically, there's two opinions here. Somehow that now as well as a feeling, then we rejected Him, we rebuffed him, or odd is to reject if someone makes a statement, and I say, I give our rod. I reject that tomorrow, that now as well as a feeling, when man did something, man in general, that Allah rejected him to the lowest of the low. Now we need to follow these two opinions. And oh, it's a bit heavy, but you can sleep late tomorrow. So the first, the first so that the previous ayah, Allah says, I created man in the base of statues, if you say, it's physical, always talking about the physical stature, in the next I always say, then we
return him to the lowest of the low, the this this group of facility and said, allies referring to your age as you progress, and then you become frail and die. So you started off strong and powerful. And then we return you to the low, low, low place, and then you passed away in a weak old age. And then the second opinion is that we took men and made him lofty in his in his spirituality, we've given him the sorrow, with intellect, which is above any other creation. But he doesn't use that route correctly. He doesn't use his intellect correctly, he corrupts it and himself. So he goes to the bottom of the pile even worse in the animals, as Allah says, Balham at all. They are like an arm
they're like animals instead, they are worse than animals. And like we said, there are things that we do as insane that animals don't do. But we've turned off this amazing CPU Allah put in our in us, we've turned it off and went to our lower self.
The next ayah continues with this two themes. So as all of you all of us who go to that low state in the laveen area know what I mean? Oh, sorry, Hattie, Farah whom, as you know, all of you will be returned or go or rejected and go to this low state, except the one that believes in Allah in the afterlife. And they do good deeds, physical deeds that are good. And those who do that follow him as urine, aroma noon.
If we say the physical stature of man is what almost talking about Allah saying, that, oh, that I made you physically perfect, then Allah made you low in terms of your age, and made you weak, and you will die. except the one who believes in the afterlife and does good deeds, then those good deeds will remain forever, that he will not be stuck with time that all of us we've got an expiration date on our bodies, but unless he's the one who believes and does good deeds, when he's rewarded will continue forever. This ayah where do we find a similar idea like this?
Usually, people make mistakes in letting me know I'm going to solve it, whatever. So Bill, hockey, whatever. So bizarre, by the way, super awesome. So the first view is about time that you are subject to time, and we find the pseudo this idea is sort of analog. That's when we talk about the physical body. If we talk about the roof, that the base of stature is your roof, and then when you turn off your neffs, you turn off your intellect and you go down low. Allah says the only one who will be saved from becoming basically the criminals we see on TV, the corrupt, the worst of the worst that we see in the news, the only ones who will be saved, or those who are mindful that
there's an accurate there's a life after this.
But I need to do good with people. And if you do that, you will have a reward that is unending meaning Jana samosas familiar, you can go back with Dean, after you think about this, how can you really reject the afterlife? How can you reject the day of judgment? Why? If you look at the earth and the world and you realize I am in my 20s, in in 50 years time I'll be in my 70s I might be in my grave. Do I really think the story ends the end? If I look at this world, and I see the best of people, and the worst of people do I really think when those two people die and they be buried next to each other? It's going to in the no cannot in the, the story doesn't? Just inside of us, it feels
they must be more than that. So Allah saying when you look at these two extremes, the best of the best, and the worst of the worst? Do you think it just ends in this life? How can you really logically believe that you are here for 50 6070 years? And that's it and your actions will not come back? You won't be judged according to actions. So can you really logically in your fitrah whoever you are, even the atheist, you really believe the story is going to end the day you feel safe. How can you then deny the life after death? Elisa lobby, I camelhair come in. And on that day, if you believe in judgment day, then who is better to judge mankind than a lot of the most just who made
you and he knows your potential. I saw the statement. They said it will be enough of a punishment for you to see the potential you could have been on piano I'll show you this is the man you could have been the woman you could have been you had the potential to be this but this is what you really ended up being and based on that Allah knows how it will be the best to judge us. So Allah subhana wa tada and the surah shows the height that men can achieve that as the MBR. And we just need to look at our world today to see that we have gone to the lowest of the low and Allah Subhana Allah forgive us and protect us. Maybe that's why the rain isn't coming. Maybe that's why this general
calamity across the world because we have gone to our base lower self gone to the lowest of the low. But of course as Allah says, not all of you in landlines and the answer is you believe in Allah and the afterlife. What you saw the heart and you do good deeds and good deeds here mean physical good deeds, you are a good person, not just your salon, your ibadah but you feed people, you build schools, you help people, you are kind to one another. You do that when Allah raises you up to that, that level of the base of the base and Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the baby of the base. And when we stand before Allah on the day of pm and he weighs us we will be weighed, that we weighed
according to our true worth and value and not what we fail to achieve in this dunya I mean, tomorrow inshallah we will discuss certain allok the very first surah to be revealed the very first revelation to the prophets on received we'll talk about that. And we continue with our quiz last night we said
we asked which surah which surah is linked to Surah Surah. I'm not sure what is linked with that we see the Torah what what the Hon Allah Mashallah are linked up with one another. And in today's question, Where did they be musala salat wa salam receive revelation Where did he receive revelation? The least he received revelation in Makkah at Mount Sinai in Medina in Palestine with me Musa receive revelation inshallah full the answer and tomorrow evening we'll have our lucky dro and there will be prizes to be won in sha Allah. Allah Allah said now Mohammed earlier sabew Saddam Hussein al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil aalameen Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh