Mustafa Abu Rayyan – 02 Tafseer Surah alBaqarah Verses 15
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Inshallah
this is our second session,
where we were learning about the tafsir of
Surat Al Baqarah.
Last week when we started I gave a
general introduction
to, Tafsir Studies
and how,
Tafsir was studied and some of the rulings,
regarding it. Today, inshallah,
I hope to start and inshallah, we will
start at the beginning, verses of Surah Al
Baqarah.
And before I do, what I want to
talk about is why I chose to go
through Surah Al Baqarah
and some of the virtues
that this Surah
has. Now, we know that the book of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is a blessing sent
by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. It is a
guidance to mankind.
It is a book that in it has,
our salvation
if we follow it and act upon it.
And if we don't,
then this is a consequence you must face.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.
So the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is a guidance,
it guides to that which is correct and
upright.
Like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in
This book, it guides to that which is
the most upright.
Now,
specifically, Surat Al Baqarah,
one of the reasons I chose those number
1,
it is a surah
that it contains almost everything.
If you want tawhid, the surah talks about
tawhid. If you want, akham and rulings, the
do's and don'ts, the prayer, the fasting, the
Surah talks about it. If you wanna learn
about hajj, this is the Surah to go
to. If you wanna learn about the people
of the past and the stories, this is
the Surah that you will go to. If
you wanna learn more about the kind of
people there are with regards to the guidance
that is being sent down, this is the
Surah that you wanna go to. So one
of the reasons why I chose it was
because
while we are going through these verses,
we will be able to,
expand upon our understanding and knowledge of the
deen in general.
So when we go through the stories of
the Banu Israel, you'll get more information about
the people of the past. What did they
do what did they do right? What did
they do wrong? What did Allah say about
them? You will learn more about the prophets.
Prophet Adam has spoken about in the Surah
extensively, prophet Ibrahim.
So your information and your knowledge regarding these
things would increase.
But
also a lot of rulings are mentioned in
the Surah
which is why,
if you you your understanding of the prayer,
your your understanding of Hajj, your understanding of
fasting,
you will learn a lot. Also many other
rulings related to,
divorce
and marriage
and the orphans,
rulings related to financial transactions,
interest, and
even to the extent that Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala in this Surah speaks about,
when someone is borrowing money and the rulings
related to that loans. So it's a Surah
that is really extensive
in the subject it talks about which is
why
I wanted to go through the surah and
hopefully we can all benefit inshallah
This is why some people some scholars have
said that this surah,
if you don't see the overarching
theme, the general
and objective of the surah, it would look
like it's many different chapters put together.
And regarding the overarching theme of Surah Al
Baqarah, I'll speak about it in a bit,
but let's speak some of about some of
the virtues and the hadith related to this
the the prophet spoke about. In one narration,
the prophet
said, take hold of Surat Al Baqarah for,
recite Surat Al Baqarah
and take hold of it
for taking hold of it and acting upon
it and reading it. It is a blessing.
And leaving it off is a grief.
And the evil magicians and evil doers will
not be able to harm you if you're
constantly reciting Surah Al Bahera.
In another narration, the prophet mentioned that on
the day of judgment,
as we know, the Quran will be brought
as a witness, and the Quran will either
be against you or for you.
And the prophet mentioned in narration that the
when the Quran is brought forth,
it will come as a witness on behalf
of those and as a shafir, as a
intercede
interceding or intercessor
on behalf of those who used to recite
it. So the Quran will be interceding on
your behalf
if you used to recite it, and the
prophet then said
that will be being led by Surah Al
Baqarah
by Surah Al Baqarah and another narration by
Surah Al Baqarah and Ali Imran which is
the 3rd Surah in the Quran, the surah
after Surah Al Baqarah.
Now
from here we learn again there's a special
emphasis
on this Surah. We know that the greatest
single verse in the Quran is
which is in Suratul Baqarah. We know the
prophet
said whoever recites the last two verses of
Suratul Baqarah, it will be sufficient for him,
for the person's protection.
We know that the prophet
said that the shaydah does not end into
a house where Surat Al Baqarah is recited.
So there are so many different virtues
that one can relate to this particular Surah
which is one of the reasons why I
chose this. So now what I urge all
of you to do is while we go
through the tafsir and the explanation
of these verses and these ayat that you
try and memorize a portion every week. We
have this session once a week so during
that week maybe if you can try and
memorize the portion that we have read or
we have explained and and by the time,
inshallah,
if Allah wills when we are done with
this, atafsir, then you have memorized
which is a great thing.
And
really it's an amazing achievement for not just
to memorize the surah but to understand it
as well. It has been narrated by
that Ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn Umar, the son
of
when he learned the surah,
that it took him 8 years. Another mention
is 10 years.
So, again, it shows you that the way
the Sahaba studied the Quran is very different
than the way we do it. They wouldn't
just memorize
the statements. They would truly study the Quran
and try to act upon it.
So why did I choose
because of its virtue and also because of
how many,
of its content?
There are we will be learning about different
subject matters which again is very good for
the person that wants a general understanding
of the religion.
Now,
before I enter into the explanation of the
Surah and the first ayaat,
I wanna mention a few things.
One is that
my brothers and sisters that the Quran,
it has a.
Every chapter,
whether it is a small chapter like
which consists of just 3 verses
or is a larger chapter of which consists
of 208,
86
verses?
And one might
and especially in the larger Surahs, one might
think that they seem to be talking about
different things. One moment they're talking about Adam
then about Ibrahim. One moment we're talking about
the people of Israel, then we're talking about
the rulings of fasting.
And you might think that there is no
overarching
theme, but there always is and some scholars
have dedicated works
to just look at the overarching
theme of the Surah. What do all of
these different things have in common? Now,
one famous mufassir,
that is known for doing that before entering
into the
Surah, the Tunisian scholar. He will always mention
the
or the of the Surah, the objective of
this chapter before embarking on the actual tafsir
of the ayaat.
And there are other scholars that did so
as well and there are some contemporary works.
Sheikh
Tahir Nasir was technically contemporary
But, yes,
so what is the the or
the objective or the overarching theme of Surat
Al Baqarah?
It can be summarized
into or it can be said it is
the obedience of Allah, the importance
of the obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and the danger
of disobeying Allah Almighty.
Now we know this Quran is here to
guide us and we must take this guidance
on board. We must take it and act
upon it and in that will be our
salvation, and we will live a good life
in this world and an even better one
in the next. If we if
we don't act upon that which is revealed
to us, then we will go astray.
This point of obedience
and a willingness to accept the message and
act upon it is what this Surah is
going to teach you.
Now you can immediately see that in the
beginning of the Surah
when Allah
speaks about the 3 types of people there
are. In the beginning of the Surah, Allah
will talk about the believers
and their descriptions.
1st, Allah says that it's this Quran is
a
This Quran is a guidance to those who
have.
Then Allah
describes the people
in relation to this guidance that came from
Allah into 3 categories.
You have the believers that will be mentioned
in the in the following verses.
Those who believe in the established
the prayer, etcetera, etcetera. And then Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. So that's the first group, the
people that accepted the guidance and believed in
it. That is one category.
They obeyed.
Then you have those who didn't obey, which
are of 2 categories,
the actual disbelievers, those who deny it openly,
and they are the kuffar.
And then after the Allah speaks about the
hypocrites and the
that acted as if they obeyed but deep
down didn't.
So already you're learning about the categories of
people in relation to their guidance. Did they
accept it and obey or did they not?
Then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us about
the story of Adam Alaihi Salam. And now
why is that significant when Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala starts speaking
about prophet Adam
and when Allah mentions to the angels that
he's going to create Adam,
this story is a story of obedience.
Iberis refusing
to obey Allah
and then being damned and cursed. Adam and
disobeying
Allah and then what they did to again,
to gain forgiveness.
Again, the theme is obedience
and disobedience.
So as Azafullah is telling us, this is
an example of your father, prophet Adam, who
made this mistake
of not listening to the commandments of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala when Allah told him to
not obey or listen to the shaitan. Now
Adam, of course, then immediately repents to Allah,
which is a lesson that we can take.
Sometimes
you will make mistakes
and you will not obey what you do.
Do what your father Adam did. As we
move along, Allah then takes tells us about
a ummah, a nation.
Not just a person but a whole ummah,
a whole nation, the nation of Beren Israel
who
collectively,
if you will, there are of course good
people in them, but collectively
disobeyed
so many times. And Allah tells us when
Allah starts talking about them, from the
believe in that which has been revealed to
you.
Don't be the first one that denies it.
And then Allah says to them
establish the prayer and give charity. Again,
commandments
which they will disobey.
And then Allah
tells them how will they disobey it. And
then there is a story
that talks about their relationship to guidance
and revelation, and that is the story of
the cow, Surat. The story
that is talking about the cow
is named this whole chapter of Surat Al
Baqarah, which means the cow, is named after
that one incident. What's the relation? This surah
speaks about so many things, fasting and Hajj
and faith and iman and tawhid
and prophets. Why was it named after this
one incident? Because it is in a moodage.
It highlights
this theme which is of an acceptance of
the revelation
and then obeying it. Because when prophet Musa
who was getting revelation from Allah, tells his
people, the Ben Israel,
that there will be a guidance and and
they they
tell they go to prophet Musa and they
tell them there was a person that was
killed. Again, when we get to those verses,
I will speak to them about them in
detail,
but the story goes, they go to the
prophet for guidance. Someone was killed and they
wanted to find out who the perpetrator was.
They go to the prophet. That's very good
that they went to the prophet. Then the
prophet gives them prophet Musa gives them a
commandment,
A commandment.
Slaughter
cow. That's a commandment. What should they have
done?
Do as the prophet tells you. Do as
the wahi, the revelation tells you. Obey.
Instead, what do they do? They start saying,
are you taking us as a mockery?
And then they kept on pestering and asking
difficult questions
and then more detail
and again something that our prophet
warned us about and said among the reasons
why the people that came before you were
destroyed was.
They,
they are,
many questions, especially the kind of badgering questions
that wasn't them seeking knowledge but more so
bothering the prophet
and just the prophet Musa and just keep
asking him unnecessary questions and unnecessary details. As
that story goes along, what does Musa tell
them? He says,
He pleads with them. Do what you're being
told.
Obey
and then they keep going and keep going.
Now as the story of the people of
Al Israel progressed in Surat Al Baqarah in
the end they were an example of a
nation, a ummah that Allah blessed.
But then as soon as they disobeyed
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala took away that blessing
and they became among the lowest of the
low.
Then Allah
gives us another example, and that example is
the example of prophet Ibrahim alayhi salam.
Now again, what's Allah say about prophet Ibrahim?
When Allah trialed and tested
Ibrahim with
commandments
then he acted upon them and completed them
and obeyed.
An example of one
who obeyed.
Again, the theme of the Surah
is obedience. Look at prophet Ibrahim and how
he made him an imam, a leader, one
that is loved by Allah. He ended up
becoming the kaleel of Allah, the close companion
of Allah
because he obeyed. When Allah
tells him to build a Kaaba, he builds
the Kaaba. When Allah tells him to leave
his family in the desert, he does. When
Allah tells him to salatul his son, he's
ready to do it, he obeys.
Then after Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala giving us
these examples, the categories of the people in
relation to the guidance they are receiving, then
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells about Adam as
the first example and Iblis,
and then tells us about the nation of
Bala Israel, then tells us about the pinnacle
of of Hidayah and guidance and acceptance and
and submission, prophet Ibrahim.
Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us about
our commandments.
This is where the commandments in Surat Al
Baqarah start. And interestingly enough, one of the
salafs said that
There are a 1000 commandments and a 1000
prohibitions and a 1000
verdicts in the Surah. So this Surah is
filled with things that we must do, the
do's and don'ts. So after Allah preparing us
and telling us of those who obeyed and
how they were blessed and those who didn't
obey and how they were,
they were destroyed
Allah then tells us, okay, so here are
your commandments
starting with
and this is why Allah
in this surah, surah 163
says,
and the one whose word if you worship
your lord is 1,
the most merciful, especially merciful to the believers.
In the following verses talk about
later on in Surah in verse 177, Allah
talks about the other commandments,
the prayer, and the zakat. And then at
verse 183, Allah speaks about fasting. After that,
Allah speaks about Hajj. After that, Allah speaks
about matters related to the family, how to
get married, rulings of divorce, etcetera. Then Allah
speaks about financial transactions and their rulings,
all of these. What do they have to
do with the overarching theme? Well, there are
these are dos and don'ts.
Do what you're being told,
Obey
and stay away from the prohibitions.
Until the end of Surah Al Baqarah when
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then finally gives us
another example of the people that flourished in
the obedience
and because they obeyed, they were forgiven.
The the second last eye of this verse
is talking about our prophet Muhammad
and his companions and how they had faith
and believed and acted upon it and obeyed.
Then Allah
knowing we have shortcomings
said
the final verse in the Surah that
Allah subhanahu wa'ala does not burden anyone with
that which they cannot do. You will have
shortcomings. You will make mistakes. If you do,
Adam is your example and hawai, repent to
Allah. If you have shortcomings,
do remember Allah will never burden upon you
that which you cannot bear. This is a
general theme, a theme of obedience. I spend
way too much time on that because I
wanted I was hoping to start the tafsir
of the Surah today, InshaAllah Ta'ala.
So now you know. So I want you
always to keep that in mind when we
are talking about any aspect of the Surah.
This is the theme of the Surah is
and
We're going to start,
the now.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala starts by saying,
In the name of Allah
I start my recitation,
my learning. I start
with the name of Allah
seeking blessings and aid in the name of
Allah the most merciful,
the especially
merciful to the believers.
These two words,
are among the names of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
Means the most merciful
that showers his mercy
upon all of his creation whether they are
believers or non believers, whether they are,
animals or humans. It doesn't matter. Allah hours
his blessings to upon all of his creation,
and this is what the term means.
Is more specific. It means especially merciful
to the believers,
which is why Allah says in the Suraj
Sab,
Indeed Allah
is merciful to the believers. Some other scholars
have said,
he is the one that gives shows mercy
and is the most merciful,
Ar Rahim, the giver of mercy. So the
first name, Ar Rahman, is talking about who
Allah is, whereas Ar Rahim is talking about
what Allah does. Al Rahm, the one who
is the most merciful. Al Rahim, the one
who gives mercy and shows mercy, and Allah
knows best.
You will find this in every single,
chapter of the Quran in the beginning. It
starts with the.
The is
this is what
for short, the scholars call
the. You will find it in every single
surah except for
or
And the scholars they discuss
is actually a verse in the Quran?
Is it not a verse? And it's just
just there just to separate between chapters?
Also,
is it part of the chapter itself and
you add it or is it not? And
there is a lot of and the scholars
have discussed this. Suffice it to say that
the the strongest opinion is that definitely
is an eye in the Quran, it is
a verse in the Quran, and many scholars
have said it is its own verse. It
is
It is a verse that is
standing on its own and it is there
to separate between the chapters.
So it is a verse. It is an
aya. You get the reward of reciting the
Quran, but it is there to separate between
the,
the surahs, the chapters. It is not part
of the chapter except for Surat al Fatiha,
which scholars differ over and many have said
that it's part of it, and also
that the the verse in Surah
to
and Allah knows best.
Then
Allah says,
and whenever we come across these letters, Alif
Lamim,
the tafsir,
the explanation
of these letters
is Allah.
Allah knows best what they mean. Allah knows
what they mean. Now
yesterday not yesterday, last week when I was
talking about our methodology of tafseer,
I said that one of the first places
you go to to understand the Quran is
the Quran itself.
If not, then the sunnah of the prophet
Why? Because,
Allah says in the Quran, oh, Muhammad, we
have sent upon you the Quran so that
you can clarify to the people what has
been revealed to them.
So we have no such clarification from the
prophet
There is no narration from the prophet telling
us
means this, this, or this.
No such thing.
So
if we do not have tafsir from the
prophet explaining to us what these terms mean,
remember I said among the ways you you
understand
the Quran is you refer back to the
Arabic
language. In the Arabic language,
letters by themselves without any,
they do not carry any known meaning in
the Arabic language.
So that didn't help either.
Then the scholars of tafsir had to understand
what these terms meant and
they all or most of them they they
are there are some people that made some
attempts but they they don't have any evidence
to back their attempts whether it means this
or that or is referring to something. But,
the correct opinion is that Allah knows what
they mean. Now, does that mean they have
no use? No. They definitely have a use.
And
the these
letters that come in the beginning of Surah,
they are mentioned 29 times in the Quran
or 29 chapters in the Quran have these
and sometimes they come in one letters like
or 1 letter. Noon, Qaaf, They come in
2 letters.
Hamim,
yasin,
taha,
they come in 3 letters,
alif
They also come in 4 letters.
And of course
I'm sorry. Those are 5 letters. Those will
come in 4 letters,
and
and
the likes. So it comes in different numbers.
You have 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
What do they mean?
I said Allahu Alem, Allah knows best. But
the scholars, they said there are a lot
of benefits
in these letters.
And another thing that has been noted is
every time Allah does use,
these letters,
it is followed up by a mentioning of
the Quran.
So whenever these letters are mentioned,
the Quran is talked about. So
what was, what is the what are some
of the benefits of this? Now as we
all know when our Messenger Muhammad salallahu alaihi
wa sallam, peace and blessings be upon him,
would recite the Quran upon
the tribe of the prophet
in Mecca, they didn't like that. And they
would try anything they could to stop the
prophet
from reciting the Quran. And from the things
they would do was they would say,
So they would say that Allah in the
Quran that the disbelievers would say, do not
listen to this Quran. In fact, drown it
out with noise.
So whenever the prophet will try to recite
Quran,
they would drown it out with noise. They
would whistle and clap and play and make
noises just so that the prophet
would not be able to recite also that
they would not be able to hear.
Now
when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam then would
say for example, aliflamim
or
hamim,
this is something they've never heard of. These
people were experts in the Arabic language. They
were poets
and they were people that loved poetry
and they would boast
over their their
usage of the language and over their comprehension,
etcetera.
So then when they hear Rasoolullah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam saying,
they would be like, wait, what?
So this would grab their attention. That's why
the scholars of the fasina said,
to grab their attention,
and that would happen. And then after that,
Allah will talk about
So why would it grab the attention? Like
the Arabs say,
Or something is new, something you haven't heard
of. You're curious. You wanna hear more.
So this is one of the reasons why
the are
used. Other scholars have mentioned other reasons as
well such as
to challenge
to challenge.
And this was because
hadal Quran, this book, this Quran,
it consists of these
letters.
This Quran consists of these letters.
These letters that you guys all know is
what the Quran consists of.
Yet you guys cannot bring it bring
even one chapter similar to it. So it's
almost like the challenge of
these are the letters that the Quran consists
of.
Here they are. Why don't you bring one
like it? And we all know especially in
some of the beginning chapters of the when
we get there, beginning verses,
the second page,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I will pose this
challenge.
And in the Quran, you will find that
Allah
poses a challenge,
to the disbelievers.
If you believe that this Quran is something
that anyone can make, anyone can make up,
then bring something like it. And Allah
Even if the jinn and humankind
would come together to produce something like the
Quran, they would not be able to do
so. And then Allah made it easier
and
said bring 10 chapters.
Then Allah make it made even easier, you
know, you will come in Surat Al Baqarah
where Allah says
bring 1 chapter like it. Even if it's
the smallest one,
3 verses, can you produce something like the
Quran in its beauty, in its,
beauty in its melody, in its rulings, in
its wisdom,
in its precision.
All no. No one can do that. Why?
Because it comes from Allah Almighty.
So these are the two reasons. What I
want you to know is and
any other,
verses similar to it like hamim and taha
and yaseen and and Saad that whenever
you wanna learn what is the reason? What
it what does it mean?
Knows.
What are some of the benefits of this?
To grab their attention.
Right? When they hear this and they haven't
heard it before, it would grab the attention
of Quraish and also to
to to remind it is these letters that
the Quran consists of yet can you produce
anything like it? And the answer is no.
So
in the name of Allah, the most merciful,
especially merciful to the believers.
Allah knows their meaning.
That is the book.
Now, a lot of books of tafsir and
translation will say this instead of that.
This in Arabic word is hada.
That
is
We wanna say that.
That over there, it signifies that what is
being talked about or pointed towards or mentioned
is far away.
Allah
says that is the book.
In which there is no doubt.
It is a guidance to those who have.
So why did the Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
say
and not say?
Why did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
speak about the book as if it is
far away? Now one of the reasons
is that
that is the book.
It shows that it is
elevated
high
up
there which is why we require to say
to show
how, honored and how high
and and, how elevated this book is. Another
reason is that when this when the Quran
was being recited
the,
this, this verse,
the Quran wasn't collected and collected so there
was no particular book. So what book is
it referring to? It's referring to the book
that is with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
There is no doubt in it. Al Muhim,
the Quran, there is no doubt in it.
That is the book
in which there is no doubt.
When we say
there is no doubt in it, It means
2
things. There is no doubt that this Quran
is from Allah Almighty.
Right?
This is the book or that is the
book in which there is no doubt which
is there's no doubt that it is from
Allah Almighty
because if it was from a human being,
you will find it many contradictions.
If If it was from other than Allah,
you will surely find in it many contradictions
which there isn't any. It is from Allah
because of its predictions, its prophecies, its wisdom,
its perfection. It is from Allah and there
is no doubt.
Also
This book,
there is no doubt in it. Meaning what?
The commandments
and the statements are in this book are
all perfect. Like Allah says in the Quran,
and the word of your lord has been
perfected.
The words of your lord, the Quran has
been perfected.
In truth
injustice.
Truth in its statements
and
just in its rulings.
Just as rulings and truthful in its statements.
So the Quran is all truth. There is
no doubt in it.
That is the book.
In which there is no doubt.
There's no doubt it's from Allah. There's no
doubt in it. It's all true.
It is a guidance. To
those
who
have those who have
are the pious people, those who fear Allah
hope in Allah's mercy, those who obey
those who obey. And remember that overarching theme
of the sword is one of obedience.
So now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
tells us about the descriptions and qualities of
those who obey.
Also,
since this Quran is a guidance do you
wanna know what type of guidance is? Do
you wanna know more detail about that guidance?
Read the surah and it will find the
guidance that you need, the answers that you're
looking for.
There's no doubt in it. Read and you
will find most definitely that there's no doubt
in it.
That is the book of Quran in which
there's no doubt, a guidance to those who
have taqwa.
Now Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala describes the people
of taqwa, the people who accept this guidance,
who are they?
Remember earlier I mentioned in the Quran, I
mean, that Surat Al Baqarah will discuss 3
categories of people? Those who accept the guidance
and obey,
those who disobey which were 2 categories, the
disbelievers that outright disobeyed, and the hypocrites who
claimed to be believers but actually were not.
In the following verses, Allah will first tell
us about the qualities of the believers,
then the qualities of the disbelievers, then the
qualities of the hypocrites.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells in this verse,
the 3rd verse about who the believers are.
Allah says,
They are those who believe in the they
believe in the unseen.
And they establish the prayer
and they spend out of that which we
have provided for them. Here Allah mentions 3
qualities. Number 1,
they are those who believe in the unseen.
This
is one of the characters of the believers.
They believe in Allah, they have not seen
Allah.
They believe in Jannah and Nar, they have
not seen Jannah or Nar. They believe in
the hereafter, they have not seen the hereafter.
They believe in the angels, and they have
not seen the angels.
They believe
although they have not seen.
Allah praises the believers and mentioned that their
first quality is that they believe in the
unseen.
I want to share with you
a hadith
and this hadith
is mentioned in Musadrakul Hakim
and many scholars have authenticated including al Bani
who mentioned that it's Hassan
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he
asked the companions a question. He said,
Who
has
the most amazing iman from Allah's creation?
And then the companion so the prophet is
asking the companions,
who do you think has the most amazing
iman for amongst his creation?
And
then they said
when when the prophet asked them, they said,
the angels.
Then the prophet said,
and why would they not believe?
Why would the angels not believe and they
are with their Lord?
And they glorify him and they postulate to
him. These are the angels. Of course, they
would believe. Why wouldn't they when they are
with their Lord?
Then the companions said that they are
the prophets.
And the prophet said,
well and similar.
Said, and why would they not believe when
they are receiving revelation from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala?
Then the companions said, is it the com
is it us, the Sahaba?
The prophet said,
why would you not believe? And I am
here with you. You met me. You met
the prophet of Allah.
And then the prophet described
the people that have the most amazing faith
and they said they are the people who
received
suhufan.
They received
a message, a letter, a book
and they believed what was in it. Never
having met the prophet or or any or
or the unseen.
I ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to make
us of those that the prophet was talking
about in that narration.
Those whom Allah spoke about in the Quran
and they say
And we have followed the messenger.
Oh, Allah. Write us among those who witness
the truth.
So there is so much virtue in believing
in the unseen.
And, and as believers we must believe in
the unseen. If you deny the jinn
or the angels, you're not a believer. You
have to believe.
That which you mentioned in the Quran and
the sunnah you must believe, this is the
character
of the Muslim. The character of those who
accept the guidance and obey is what?
And then Allah said
and they perform or establish the
prayer. Did not say
and they pray.
And there is more meaning in to salah
than there is in a salah
to establish the prayer. The scholars of Tafsir
said this means.
That you do all of the things including
the salah. You do the pillars,
the everything in the salah. You won't leave
something off just because it's sunnah. You establish
the prayer and pray like the prophet prayed
like he said. Sallallahu alaihi
wasallam, I teach a fiqh class
and a lot of times we are discussing
in the fiqh class and at the moment
I'm doing the fiqh of the prayer. We
discuss, okay, so this is what are some
of the actions in the salah that if
you leave off your salah is still valid?
And what are the actions that if you
leave off, your salah breaks? And then we
also discuss some of the actions in the
salah that you leave off purposely.
Does your salah break? For example, let's say
you purposely
didn't say
in between the sujoods.
Does that break your salah? And the answer
is no. It doesn't it doesn't break your
salah. It's among the hayat or the sunan.
It is among the recommended act in the
salah.
Now,
that being said, it always repeats in a
class as well. When we're learning the do's
and don'ts and the details of the salah
and what breaks it and what doesn't break
and and what invalidates it and what if,
We're we're learning about
fiqh here,
the rulings.
But when it comes to our actual salah,
we shouldn't be looking at those things. We
should pray in the best way possible.
Like Allah says,
They establish the prayer. Don't do everything.
Don't leave off the salah in your tahiyat.
Don't leave off the dua towards the end.
Do everything in your salah. Pray like the
prophet prayed. This has the most reward in
it and this will be more likely that
you are part of those who accept the
guidance, they establish the prayer.
Again, out of all the acts of worship
mentioned, Allah started with a prayer highlighting its
importance.
Those who believe in the unseen.
And they establish the prayer.
And they spend from that which we have
given them, they spend from that which we
have provided for them.
SubhanAllah. Again, among the characters of the believers
and those who accept the guidance from Allah
is that they spend
from that which Allah has given them. First,
Allah reminds us here that whatever you own
Allah gave you.
Whatever you own Allah gave you. That's why
Allah did not use the word kasabah, which
you've earned.
From that which we have given them, provided
for them because in everything that we have
is a provision and a rizq from Allah
subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Then Allah gives another quality of the believers.
They are those who believe.
Those who believe in what?
And that which have been revealed upon your
Muhammad.
Also revealed upon the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam,
revelation.
They believe in all that has been revealed
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Some
of the tafsirs they mention they they say
it is the Quran which is correct but
that's not the only thing.
It is better to say it is all
revelation because even the sunnah is revealed from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala like Allah mentioned in
many places in the Quran that Allah reveals
upon the prophet the Quran
and the sunnah.
So what are the character of the believers?
Verse number 3 said,
they are those who believe in the unseen,
establish the prayer and spend from that which
we have given them and that spending could
be
charity, the zakat, it could be
it could even be something that is not
necessarily related to money
They also
spend, they also
that includes those who teach the deen. Allah
has provided them with the knowledge and they
propagate that knowledge. Allah will give you wealth,
you give that wealth to those who are
in need. And here, what's interesting is also
Allah did not mention who is is being
given to.
They give from that which we spent. Give
it to who?
If you wanna learn who is being given
to, you have to read the surah and
you will find more detail. I mentioned in
my last week's tafsir
that
the ayaat sometimes will generalize something and you
will find more details
in another verse. And as we go along
the story, we'll find out who you should
be spending on. Like Allah says,
it's for who? It's for your parents. It
is for your for the for the poor,
for the orphans, for those in need, etcetera,
etcetera. So Allah will give you more details
as you go along. Then Allah
says in this in in in verse,
4,
They are those who believe in that which
have been revealed to you, the Quran and
the Sunnah.
And
that which has been revealed before you, oh,
Muhammad, which is what? They believe in the
tawrat of Musa and the injil of Alissa.
They believe in the Suruf of Ibrahim and
the Suruf of Musa and the and the
Zaboor of Dawood. They believe in all the
books that have been revealed, all the scriptures
that have been revealed, whether they are named
or not named.
Right?
Like we said,
They believe in that which has been revealed
upon you, oh Mohammed, and that which has
been revealed before you.
Before
you.
And they believe in the hereafter.
Allah said,
and they believe in the day of resurrection
with certainty.
Which is to believe with certainty.
So they are certain in their belief in
the hereafter. Again, among the qualities and the
character of the believer is what? That they
believe in the hereafter.
So how many qualities did Allah give us
here?
Let's count them.
Who are those who accepted the guidance
and gained salvation?
They are
those who believe in the unseen.
Number 1, they believe in the unseen.
They established the prayer.
They spend from that which Allah has given
them.
And they believe in that which has been
revealed to you,
Muhammad. And they believe in that which has
been revealed before you,
meaning the previous scriptures.
And they
believe in the hereafter with certainty.
Those are the 6 characteristics
that I mentioned here regarding the believers.
Those that have the character trait of those
who obey and believe
and accept the guidance from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. So what do they get in return
after all of this?
Allah
says,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said
Those who have these qualities and these descriptions
are they are upon guidance from their lord.
And they are
those who are successful. Indeed, they and only
they
are the ones who are successful.
So from
here, we learn that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
promise us true success
if we embody these qualities,
your belief in the unseen, the establishing of
the prayer, the giving of charity,
and, of course, the believing in the Quran
and the sunnah and in the previous scriptures.
So
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us here
that,
they are successful.
I'm gonna hook up a lesson here. What
does it mean to be successful? If you
wanna learn what true success is, what are
the pillars and the keys to success, I
urge you to read Surah Al Asr where
Allah says,
Allah says by the time, indeed, mankind is
in loss except
Those who have faith, iman, and do righteous
actions, and they recommend each other the truth,
and they recommend each other patience. These four
characteristics
will make you among the successful if you
do. But what is true success?
Allah mentions in Surat Imran,
Allah said whoever is removed away from the
fire
and ends in the paradise has indeed become
successful.
So
that success my brother and sisters.
Be safe from hellfire and to enter into
Jannah.
Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us
among those who are successful.
Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive our
sins. Ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept
a good deeds from us and to make
us of those that receive the guidance and
obey. I'm gonna stop here.
We carry on next week starting from,
the
6th verse.