Mustafa Abu Rayyan – 10 Tafseer Surah alBaqarah Verses 6373
AI: Summary ©
The conversation discusses the historical context of Jesus's actions, including his promised promised covenant and the influence of Islam on people's behavior and actions. The speaker emphasizes the importance of following expiration dates and avoiding "by the" in the title of the book. The conversation also touches on the historical context of the Sabbath and the importance of following commandments and following expiration dates. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being humble and listening to the prophet.
AI: Summary ©
This is a continuation of our regular class
where we were discussing
the tafsir of Suratul Baqarah.
Last week we stopped at verse 62.
And we're starting today from verse
63.
We are still talking and discussing about the
people of Banu Israel
and how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has blessed
them with many and many, blessings.
Yet every time Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala blessed
them with something and then also commanded them
to do something they would disobey.
How they have made numerous blasphemous statements.
How they disobeyed Prophet Musa and their other
messengers.
How even Allah mentions
in Surah in verse 61, they even killed
some of the prophets that were sent to
them, and one of the salaf will narrate
that they've killed many many prophets, prophets, a
great
number of prophets that they killed.
And we know how they even tried to
kill prophet Isa Alaihi Salam, but then Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala took him away.
Then the verse that we spoke about last
was verse 62,
And this ayah was talking about that
perhaps that if the misconception was that all
of the yahood were bad people, that Allah
mentions no,
the, those who believed, the believers, and this
is referring to the believers during the time
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and
waladinahadud,
the yahoo, and the nasaara, the Christians, and
the Sabi'in,
the Sabians whom we spoke about the previous
lessons,
all of these people in their respective times
with their respective prophets,
whoever amongst them believed in Allah and the
mess and and the hereafter,
and did good deeds
that
they will have the reward with their Lord.
There will be no fear on them
nor shall they be, grieving
or sad. So here you learn that not
all of the yuhood were people that disobeyed.
Some of them were good, similar with the,
similar with all of the people that came
before us.
Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in verse 63
continues to tell us more about some of
the blessings and some of the events that's
transpired
with the yahood. Allah says,
and mention and remember when we took the
covenant from you.
And we raised above you the mountain door.
Saying, hold fast to that which we have
given you,
with might.
With and
mention
what is in it.
So that you may attain
and become of those who have piety.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this verse is
mentioning an incident that happened with the Bali
Israel. Su'il. Allah
says, and oh children of Israel, remember when
we took your covenant.
We,
is,
It is
a promise
that has been emphasized.
It is when someone
makes you,
makes you promise something
or you make a deal
and then that is heavily emphasized
this is what they made is.
What was this promise that they made to
Allah? We mentioned it in the beginning when
we started the story when Allah said
fulfill my vow to to me and I
will fulfill my vow to you or my
promise to you. This is the a'id.
Is when it is heavily emphasized and made
stronger.
So what is this? The scholars, they have
interpretations
but,
some of them they say and this is,
very applicable because you have to remember
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam when these ayats
are coming down
speaking to the yahood of his time. He
is speaking to the Jews that live in
Madinah
and all of these events and these stories
are being told are a reminder for them.
So there is a conversation happening, if you
will, with prophet Muhammad and
the in Medina and And they are being
told and remember and mention and remember
when we took the covenant from you. So
So they know this covenant, and this covenant
was
that they should believe in Allah, believe in
their prophet which is prophet Musa, and in
all the other messengers that came before and
to obey and not disobey.
So, in this covenant, in this promise was
that they promised that they would believe in
any prophet that came after
Musa. And of course, Musa as well and
that they would act upon the Torah. This
was the promise. This was the covenant.
And they broke that covenant. And now they
are being reminded, remember the promise that you
made that you would believe in the messengers.
You have a messenger standing in front of
you right now, prophet Muhammad, believe in him.
Hold fast to this promise that you made.
Now, of course,
this incident where Allah mentions
and we raised above you the tur, the
mountain.
This is now referring to the an incident
that occurred during the time of prophet Musa
Alaihi Salam
And this was that Allah
raised the mountain, and you will find more
detail in Surah Araf and
Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala took the mountain and held
it above them, raised it above them. So
the mountain door,
what is door? This is something that the
scholar has discussed. What is it? This door
that was raised above them. Some of the
Alimat they say door means mountain. So it
was any mountain.
Others say no it is a specific mountain.
It is the mountain that Allah, where Allah
spoke to Musa.
This is the mountain where Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala spoke to Musa and he received the
Tawrat. So it's very particular
mountain, the mountain Tur.
Other, scholars they say the word Tur
refers to a mountain in which vegetation
grows on, Al Jabal Al Mumbit. So any
kind of mountain where vegetation grow grows on,
so not the mountains that is barren. Right?
This is very first and Allah knows best.
But what we do know is Allah took
a mountain and held it, hovered it above
the Banu Isra'id.
So they actually saw that.
And when they saw that they are being
told,
hold fast to that which we have given
you with might.
Now, this means
with, with, certainty,
with, determination.
Hold fast to the book that you have
been given.
With and
remember what's in it. With and mention what
is in it. With and act and implement
what's in it. This is all the meaning
of with
so that you may attain and piety. So
how do you gain piety by acting upon
the Torah? How do you act upon the
Torah by holding steadfast to it and holding,
a strong to it?
Why, are they being told this? They are
being told this because this is their salvation.
Now what's interesting and scholars mentioned this is
that,
so this is being told to them while
the, while the,
while the,
the mountain is hovering above them
like a canopy, like it's mentioned in in
in Surat Al Araf. So, it's literally above
them and some of the, stories that you
hear that are historians mentioned and the scholars
of Tasir is that they became so afraid
when they saw the, this this mountain hovering
above them that they bowed down and they
prostrated, they made sujood.
They made sujood out of fear and out
of,
conviction and out of, and this is this
was the purpose of it. Allah
was almost scaring them into submission.
And there's an interesting back and forth with
some of the scholars of the firsir have
and they say, well, if they were,
if they obeyed and if they said we're
going they made sujood, but they only did
it because they were scared
of the mountain collapsing on them. Like Allah
mentioned, can that be set as true faith?
Now, the scholars, they say that in any
case, they were told to believe in Musa
and they were told to follow the commandments
of the Torah
and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala threatened them
with this hovering mountain
and they were worried and scared it was
going to fall on them and as a
result they believed and they made sujood, almost
a miracle that Allah is showing them. And
they have already seen so many miracles like
we've mentioned. They saw the men and the
salwa that they were eating from, they saw
Musa,
hitting a rock and then gushing forth from
the water to drink,
They saw,
of course the sea splitting
and they saw the nine signs of Musa
with regards to Fir'aun.
They some of them were killed and then
revived and they actually saw that as well.
So many miracles that they have seen, not
to mention the staff of Musa, not to
mention, all of the other miracles.
So, this was all to increase their conviction
and it shows you how difficult of a
people they were.
Allah says,
remember when we took the covenant from you,
this emphasized promise which was that you would
believe in all of the messengers and you
will hear and obey.
And we held this the mountain door above
you.
Hold fast to that which we have given
you with might and strength.
With
remember that which is in therein.
So how do you attain taqwa? By acting
upon and reading and, and, and,
implementing
the book that Allah has given you. In
our case, what does that be? In our
case, that would be the Quran. So if
you want guidance, if you want talk about
what's Allah say in the beginning of
This is the book that which is there
is no doubt,
a guidance to those who have taqwa.
So you will find this relationship quite often.
Now Allah
mentions, so what happened after all of this?
Allah says,
Then after that, after all of this, after
all of the signs that you've seen, out
of all of the miraculous signs that you've
seen, what did you do?
You turned away after that. Then after that,
you, you still turned away.
Turned away from what? Turned away from your
promise that you're going to believe in the
messengers.
Turn away from the promise that you're going
to act upon the Torah,
and you turned away
by changing the Torah. You turned away by
not acting upon the Torah. You turned away
by denying prophet Muhammad. You turned away by
denying prophet Isa. Remember, the Yahud refused to
believe in prophet Isa as well. And similarly,
they refused to believe in prophet Muhammad. This
is all the
And had it not been for the grace
and mercy of Allah upon you,
you would have surely been among the losers.
Allah
showed them so much mercy
by sending them prophets, by giving them this
book, by over and over again showing them
these miraculous signs. This is all from the
rahama of Allah. What is also raham from
Allah? The fact that Allah sent prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam to guide them back to
the truth.
And and if it wasn't for Allah's grace,
and if it wasn't for Allah's mercy, and
if it wasn't for Allah's sufadl,
they surely would have been from the losers.
Now Allah says,
Allah says, and indeed you knew those amongst
you that, that transgressed upon the Sabbath.
Now what is this referring to?
And surely you know, surely you know and
you have knowledge of those who did
transgressed
from amongst you
on the Sabbath.
And Allah said,
and we said to those that transgressed,
be despised and rejected
monkeys.
So what is this I referring to? Verse
65.
Allah is saying, and this again, the Khitab
is
Allah is speaking to the people of Israel.
Specifically now, now Allah is speaking to those
who are at the time from and Allah
is reminding them of an incident that is
well recorded in their history, which they know
about even today, the and the Jews, they
know about this, is the incident of the
Sabbath. And what was this? You will find
a lot more detail in Surat Al Araw,
when Allah
mentions about,
those who transgressed upon the Sabbath.
Allah mentions that,
the
those who transgressed upon the Sabbath. So what
was this all about?
Allah
mentions to us that they were told
to not fish
on Saturdays.
And they were not supposed to any work
on Saturdays
specifically,
the the the fishing and they were not
allowed to do this. And as a test,
it was on Saturday
when most of the fish would appear and
it would come near the shore.
And this is what Allah mentions.
About the town that was near the shore,
near the ocean. And Allah mentions how the
on this the day they are not allowed
to fish,
the day they are not allowed to fish,
the fish would be abundant.
It will be jumping up and down,
near the shore,
And this was a test. You see all
of this stuff that you could potentially get,
all of this fish that you can, you
can, you can,
you can bring in,
you're not allowed to do that. Because it's
the Sabbath and you're not allowed to observe
you have to observe the Sabbath. So this
was the commandment from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And what was the general theme of the
surah? Follow the commandments Allah gives you. And
what is the the the general message that
we are getting from this story
is a whole nation that struggled or didn't
follow the commandments that came from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. And here's another example, and we
saw so many examples. A few weeks ago,
we're talking about how they were commanded to
enter into the blessed city, and they didn't
do so. And and then they were commanded
to do so many things. They they didn't
they were commanded to help
uphold Tawhid and only worship Allah, yet they
succumb to worshiping the Kaf.
And, and, and, and, and, and, and, again,
they were, they kept on disobeying and disobeying.
And finally,
you have
here, again they're told on the Sabbath, you
need to observe it, you cannot work, you
cannot hunt, you cannot fish.
And
what did they do? They did what is
known as the
trickery and deception. So they were like, we
have found a loophole and the loophole was
if we're not allowed
to
fish on on Saturday,
we're going to put our nets out on
Friday,
we're going to wait for sun, until Sunday
and then when all of the fish is
in our nets, we just collect it on
Sundays. Technically,
we didn't technically,
we didn't,
fish on Saturdays.
Now this was the transgression that Allah is
talking about. Then Allah says, walakad aayim to
mooladinaatadawimin
kumfisatin, indeed you knew those amongst you who
transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath.
Those who transgressed,
Allah and violated,
Allah is talking about this incident.
So, what do they do? They put their
nets out on
on a Friday. They would sit on the
Saturday and wait and then they would collect
it on Sunday. And they would say, well
we technically
didn't. And there are other incidents that Allah
mentions
or that the prophet mentions about this concept
that they had
when, the the the deception and trickery. There's
some other instances in the sunnah where they
did the same thing. They were told this
is haram and they found another way to
benefit from
it. So, this is something that people do.
And you'll find a lot of people finding
trying to find loopholes. Well, technically this is
not arribah. Well, technically this is not haram.
Well, technically if I do this first then
this will be allowed. This type of mindset
is very toxic and very problematic.
You have to remember you are someone that
is supposed to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and you need to hear and obey. This
is the message of Surat Al Baqarah.
Hear and obey.
If
do what you are being told. Do what
you are being told.
And, this is a very problem that we
have in our Umar nowadays where people look
for loopholes, they look for
he mentions how this event transpired
and how there was a group that decided
that they were going to do this. It
wasn't all of them. It wasn't all of
them. This is why Allah says,
so some of you, some of the they
transgressed and Allah mentions 3
categories
of people
with regards to this incident in Surah Al
Araw. The first group was
those who transgressed, those who actually did the
trickery,
those who actually put their nets out, those
who didn't obey.
That's one group. And then there was another
group, they were a group of preachers.
Allah mentions
Allah mentions a group of people that were
preaching,
and then there was another group of people
that were quiet. They were minding their own
business. They were saying, why bother telling them
that what they're doing is wrong? They know,
just leave them alone. So you had 3
categories.
Those who preached
and told them, don't transgress.
Those who transgressed and they were actually the
the people that did the corporates, the people
that did the sin,
and those who minded their own business and
didn't even bother to say anything.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us what happened
to those who transgressed. They were punished.
What happened to them? You will find out
in this verse when Allah says,
Those who who
spoke out against evil,
those who called towards good, those who reminded
them,
those who understood the responsibility
of calling others to do better,
Allah mentions that they were saved.
Allah said we saved the people that were
forbidding the evil.
What happened to those that said,
why are you guiding them? Why are you
admonishing them? The people that were the I
mind my own business, I don't get involved
type. What happened to them?
They were quiet so Allah was quiet about
their faith. And the scholars, they discussed this.
Were they punished or were they forgiven? And,
some say they were punished because,
the one who doesn't speak out against evil
when it's happening
is no, not much better than the one
participating in it. If you are scared for
your life and you don't want to talk
about against it, at least remove yourself from
the situation. But anyway, this is a this
is a an interesting concept of
sometimes you are supposed to speak out and
you speak it out in the eyes of
Allah is better for you. But then you
have to assess the situation as well and
this is why we learn the fiqh of
al amr with ma'aruf al nahi al mumqar.
How do we call towards good and forbid
evil? And every situation is different. Sometimes it's
better for you to speak out. Sometimes it's
better for you to stay quiet. Maybe someone
else has a would do a better job.
Sometimes it's not your role because this person
would not listen to you. These are all
nuances we have to appreciate.
But,
in this particular incident, Allah saved those who
spoke out against the evil,
and and Allah punished those who transgressed,
for
And then there was a group that Allah
mentions or alludes to that were quiet, Allahu
Alem what happened to them. So, this is
the story of the Sabbath. So they were
told to not fish on Saturdays. They would
put their nets out the day a day
before and collect the fish a day after.
Which is strictly an exception is absolutely haram.
So what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
And you know about those that transgressed on
the Sabbath?
And we said to them, those who transgressed,
be despised and rejected monkeys.
This is very interesting.
The scholar to discuss what he actually turned
into,
monkeys. Were they physically turned into monkeys
or is this more metaphorical?
And we have a qqirah generally speaking if
we did is no evidence to suggest something
is metaphorical
that you go with the literal. And Allah
subhanahu ta'ala is capable of doing all things
And there is no,
there is actually, asafirullah, the majority of our
scholars of tafsir, the majority of the scholars
of tafsir
mention that the masq or the change
that was done to them was,
physical was physical. They were physically turned into
monkeys. And in Surat Al Maidah, you'll find
They were turned into swines and monkeys. And
you have some that mentioned the elders were
turned into swines and the younger folks,
were turned into monkeys and Allah knows best,
but that they were physically turned. Now, one
common mistake that people have is they assume
that
now
that, when you come across monkeys and, and,
and swines that they are the same people
or their descendants.
They didn't
have a progeny. They didn't have a descendants.
In fact, they were destroyed. There's a that
mentions that the, the scholars mentioned, like Ibn
Kathib, they mention
that the people that were changed these people
that were changed into
apes or or or monkeys and they were
changed into swines, they didn't survive long enough
to have progeny, to have a descendants to
begin with.
Right? Number 1.
Number 2,
let me just, there is,
They were not given,
they didn't last. In fact, after 3 days
they were destroyed. Right? This was a punishment
for them.
Now, you have this interpretation. This is the
majority of scholars of tasid. They say literally,
Allah said to them, be monkeys and they
became actual monkeys.
And, is this possible? Yes. I mean, and
a verse ago we were discussing
a a
mountain
hovering over them. A mountain
hovering over them. And now Allah turned them,
some of them into,
monkeys. Now, this is very possible.
Allah is capable of doing all things. Allah
created the heavens and the earth. Allah can
do anything he wills.
So this shouldn't trouble you or you shouldn't
struggle believing this. But there is an interpretation
that is mentioned there is from Mujahid,
and the student from Abbasid mentioned
that they were changed into monkeys in, in,
in, not,
not physically
but in, in character,
that they were not physically changed but there
was their insight and the the the that
that was changed,
from, from a metaphorical sense.
And this is an interpretation that exists, but
the majority of silak, they act they were
actually turned into qirada because they didn't observe
the Sabbath and they transgressed and they used
trickery.
One more time. Allah and
you know and indeed you knew
what happened to those who transgressed upon the
Sabbath, and we said to them, be despised
and rejected monkeys.
So we made this punishment, the changing to
them into monkeys,
we made this punishment an example,
to their own and to succeeding generations,
and a lesson to those who are pious.
So when you read the story and you
see that those who disobeyed,
those who transgressed,
those who tried to do trickery and deception,
What happened to them, this should be a
lesson for all.
Fear Allah and obey. I wanna make a
point here that is, I think, important
because in Surat Al Baqari we'll come across
many miraculous incidents. In fact, right now we're
about to enter into another miraculous story, someone
being revived,
from the dead. So,
you will have
here and there
some interpretations
from the scholars
that,
will make it into a regular incidence rather,
incident
rather than a miraculous one. For instance, you
might find people telling you that earlier the
first to be mentioned
and we hovered or held the mountain above
you.
They will say, no this was and you
will have especially contemporary,
they will they will go with this this
this explanation.
And so it's saying that it was actually
an earthquake
and the mountain it seemed like it was
gonna fall on them or there were boulders
that that that were descending upon them and
they were scared and yes you can say
the mountain was above you or it and
it so it is it didn't literally
hover above them but it was it was
all it's almost like a usage of the
word, but it they felt like the mountain
was above them. They felt that they were
they were underneath the mountain and then there
was a zal zalah. The the mountain shook
and this scared them. So, for example, you'll
hear people say something like this. And then
you have although we have again it's one
of the salafs saying that the change to
monkeys was actually something
not not physical,
but you will have people gravitating towards this
interpretation
because it's more in line with natural physics
and biology.
It makes more sense, etcetera,
etcetera. But what they forget is that
when
we talk about and
miracles,
they're not supposed to abide by the regular
laws of physics and biology that we know
to begin with.
And this is very important because you have
people that are almost running away
from the, the miraculous nature of these events.
So, okay, if we say the, if we,
they, they will say the mountain didn't hover,
they were not turned into monkeys,
the man was not revived to death,
this, that or the other. But But what
will you do? What will you do with
innocence like the creation of Adam, the creation
of the heaven and the earth? These things
are also miraculous, if you think about it.
Or when,
being born without
a mother, when you come across that verse
what you're going to do. So the mentality
that some people have
to explain away
everything that is miraculous,
like,
someone
I saw someone, they tried to explain
the splitting of the ocean
the splitting of the ocean by Musa alaihi
salaam by saying there were some winds and
what have you. Some nonsense stuff, really and
and look,
these are
these are miracles. They're supposed to be different
from how things usually work.
For example, some people are saying, well how
did the the the stick turn into a
snake?
What do you mean how did the stick
turn into a snake? Can Allah not do
that?
Can Allah not,
can Allah not create something and and
do a miracle? If someone is struggling to
believe in the capability of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, this is the problem. This is the
problem. And this is very important to remember
that
Allah is capable of doing all things and
many of the stories
that we that we are hearing that are
outside of what usually happens,
that's the point.
The point is that they are a miracle.
They are being shown to people to strengthen
their iman and their faith and their belief.
This is the whole point of it And
this is something that perhaps is lost on
many people which is why they will say
let's find a scientific explanation for this. Let's
look at historical how this really happened. What
could have been? What was inside the staff,
of Musa for it to move this certain
way? Perhaps it was a reflection or this
No. There's no need for this.
This is why earlier I gave you guys
the or the principle.
If Allah tells us something,
we believe it as it is. We take
the
the apparent meaning
unless we find an evidence to suggest
that the apparent meaning is not what is
meant with it at that particular,
verse. So when Allah says
be rejected and despise monkeys, we say this
was the punishment and Allah actually
literally turned them into monkeys and this is
the opinion of the majority,
the majority of the scholars of tafsir.
Again,
verse 66,
So he made this punish with an example
to their own, and this is why it
happened in one particular village, like Allah mentioned,
so this happened in a particular village, and
it was an example for all the other
villages as well. This is what happens to
you when you disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
when you use deception and trickery.
And for the generations that came after them,
the succeeding generations, and you can tell because
the lesson of those who transgress upon the
Sabbath was something that was told generation after
generation, something that they remembered.
The rabbi mentions
and it is a lesson, a reminder, an
admonishment
to those of pious. So when, you and,
brothers and sisters, when you hear this story,
let the lesson be, If you disobey Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, then this is something that
is severe and you must fear Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and can result in a punishment.
May Allah protect us.
Waib.
Now Allah
mentions another incident.
And remember when Musa said to his people,
to his people,
Allah is commanding you
to slaughter a cow. They
said, oh Musa, are you taking us as
a mockery?
He said, and then Musa said,
I see graffiti from Allah to be among
the the jayhoun, the ignorant and the foolish.
This is another story that started here. This
is a very important story
that requires our reflection. Why? Because it is
the, the, the, the story that the whole
surah is named after. This is the incident
of the Baqarah, the story of the cow,
and this surah is known as Surah Al
Baqarah.
So, this surah is named Surah Al Baqarah
because of this incident.
Allah says,
when Mu'a said to his people,
Allah has commanded you and told to slaughter
a cow. Why did Musa say to his
people, Allah is commanding you to slaughter a
cow? The scholars at Tafsir, they mentioned that
this
was an answer to a question that was
posed.
And the back story is that a man
was waiting to inherit his uncle for his
uncle did not have any children for himself
and he was of old age and he
had a lot of wealth. So he was
waiting for the inheritance but this old man
would not die. And he was impatient
so he ended up killing his uncle. He
killed his uncle. So the nephew killed the
uncle. And when he killed him, he put
his body far away so that he would
not be a suspect. And then and what
was the reason again? He wanted the wealth
to inherit his wealth. This was his plan.
So
then, Musa, the Debaru Israel, they find out
this deceased person
and then the nephew, the culprit, the killer
himself
started
saying, who killed my uncle? We must find
out and this became a commotion,
an issue, and a problem
like a murder, murder that needs to be
solved within the Bani Israel.
It is during this time that they go
to prophet Musa and they ask prophet Musa
that this incident has occurred, this person has
been killed, can you tell us who killed
him and investigate the matter? Then Musa says
to them,
and Musa said to his people,
Allah is commanding you to slaughter a cow.
So they came to Musa alaihi salam and
said, oh Musa,
someone has been killed.
What shall we do? Musa said, a wise
telling you to slaughter a cow.
Now,
remember the theme, I've I've mentioned this quite
often is that you need to obey the
messengers. You need to hear and obey.
This is what it means to be a
believer.
A prophet is telling you to slaughter a
cow. What was their
reaction?
They said, are you making fun of us?
Prophet Musa said, Allah is telling you to
slaughter a cow. Would prophet Musa ever make
a mockery of Allah and the religion?
How dare they even
even
think that? Let alone say that.
What does Musa say?
I say, I take refuge from Allah sub
ab, Allah from being among the jahilun. No.
Musa is not among the ignorant. Musa will
never make a mockery of the deen.
What he said, he was serious. Allah told
them to slaughter a cow. Now what should
they have done? They should have slaughtered a
cow immediately. For when Allah asks you to
do something, you should do it. Allah tells
you to pray, pray. Allah tells you to
be dutiful to your parents, be dutiful to
your parents. Allah tells you to pay zakat,
pay zakat. Do what you are being told.
So what did they do when they realized
that the matter is serious and that Musa
meant this and Musa is saying they have
to slaughter a cow? Did they go and
slaughter a cow? No, they didn't. Did they
obey?
No, they didn't.
They started asking questions and badgering Musa alayhi
salam with unnecessary
detailed questions.
They said, oh Musa,
call upon your lord for us. Again, look
at the same error they keep making.
Call upon your lord for us.
Last week when they were asking Allah, when
they were asking, when they got
bored
from the
food that was the heavenly food that Allah
was giving them, Almanu salwa,
and they said Musa we want,
onions and cucumbers and what have you. They
said, Udur Al Anarabak. They said, Fudur Al
Anarabak, call upon your Lord for us. Again,
what are they saying now?
They said, call upon your lord, oh Musa.
Why are they saying this? Why can't they
say
call upon our lord? Is Allah not their
lord? But it shows you the kind of
mentality and mindset they were in, the arrogance
that they don't even they're not even accepting
the fact that they are servants of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. That Allah is their master
and law.
O Musa, call upon your lord for us
and ask to clarify
for us
what this cow is. We need more information.
What kind of cow is it?
And Musa said to them, this cow is
neither too old nor too young.
It's between the two conditions. So it's a
cow that is not too young, still suckling
at its mother's,
its mother nor is it too old. It
is in between. So now they have a
description of the cow.
A cow that is not too young, nor
too old. So now that you know,
do what you are being commanded.
Do what you are being commanded. This is
so important, this wording of Musa alayhis salam.
It's exactly
and what's interesting is once we finish the
story about Israel,
which are an example of a nation that
refused to obey,
Allah was telling us about an example of
a father and a son that did obey.
And that is Ibrahim
and Ismael.
This is why it's such a beautiful,
surah, this chapter, Surah Al Baqarah. It tells
you about people that obeyed and then people
that disobeyed. And it's telling you, be more
like Ibrahim and Ishmael
and don't be like the Banu Israil.
Waib.
So,
why why am I mentioning Ibrahim and Israel?
Because in Suratul Safat,
when Ibrahim sees in a dream that he
has to slaughter
his son.
Now think about this. Even the parallel, they
are being asked to slaughter a cow. Prophet
Ibrahim was asked to slaughter his own
son.
I see in my sleep or in my
dream that I am
slaughtering
you.
Now look,
Ibrahim was being
told by Allah
to slaughter his son. His son. His beloved
son.
Then he asks his son, this is what
I'm being told.
What does Ismail
say?
Oh my beloved father.
Do as you are being told.
When Musa tells his people, slaughter a cow,
any cow, slaughter it.
Then they keep asking what type of cow
is it, and then he tells them it's
not too old, not too young.
Then Moses says to them,
do what you are being told.
It shows there's a beautiful parallel there.
Now Ibrahim, of course, did what he was
told, and then Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, sent
down a ram. It was a test from
Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Let's see what Barisrael
do instead. Again, it's very important to keep
that parallel in mind. We wanna be more
like prophet Ibrahim and prophet Ismail and prophet
Musa, and we don't wanna be like the
Bani Israel who have constantly failed to obey
Allah Almighty.
Now that they have been told the age,
it's not too young or too old, they
want more information. Again, they didn't have to
ask all this information.
Now you know it's a cow that's not
too old, not too young. Find any of
them and and slaughter it. No.
They they keep asking.
They said, oh Musa, call upon your lord
for us to clarify
what it is.
What its what its color is. Now you
want to know the color.
Musa said that, Allah is saying that
It is a it is a cow that
is yellow in color.
Bright in its color,
pleasing to the observer.
So now they know the cow is a
yellowish cow. It is not too young and
not too old. Go find it and slaughter
it.
What did they do?
Again,
They say again to Musa Musa, they said
call upon your lord for us to make
it clear for us.
Mahi, what is it?
Verily to us, all cows are alike.
And if God wills, we will be guided.
Then Musa alayhi salam answers,
He said to Allah saying,
there's a cow
It is not trained to till the soil.
Nor to water the fields.
It is free from any defects.
And it has no spots. It's bright and
it's clear from any spots. It has only
one color.
Now, it the cow became extremely specific.
It's a cow that is not too young,
not too old?
Its color has been clarified.
Then, is it a cow that works the
fields? No. Does it water the fields? No.
Now they have all of the information, subhanallah.
They only found the description of this car
with a young orphan
who was extremely dutiful to his mother.
And they had to get this cow now
because that's the only cow that fits the
description.
And SubhanAllah, Allah will that this family, this
young orphan will be provided from their,
questioning and and and, their disobedience and keep
that Allah
allowed their disobedience
and their badgering of Musa 'alayhi salaam
to provide from that family
for they sold the cow in its weight
of gold.
So the cow was sold to the Ben
Israel,
and they bought it with the cow's weight
in gold. So that family got enriched
because of this event,
like some of the scholars of Tasir mentioned.
So they found the car finally.
And, now what did they do?
Fadabahu,
they slaughtered it.
And they almost did not.
And they almost did not.
So that shows you again that they were
hesitant. They didn't wanna obey. A very a
a character trait by now we have seen
quite often.
Now you will Allah tells us about the
incident that
led to this event. I've alluded to it
in
the
beginning.
And remember when you killed a soul, a
person,
and you disputed amongst yourself about it.
And Allah will reveal that which you are
hiding.
And
He said to them to hit it or
to strike it with some of it, some
of the cow. So what happened was, Allah
mentions first, I remember when you killed a
man and you felt a dispute among yourselves,
but Allah had brought forth that which you
were hiding. So this whole incident, there was
a there was a murder. Right? A a
a man that killed his own uncle because
he wanted the the wealth to inherit it
and he couldn't wait for his uncle to
die naturally so that he could inherit it,
he killed him.
And,
this is when
this is when,
the cow finally, it was slaughtered and then
they were told to strike the deceased man,
so the body of the deceased man, to
strike
a part of the cow on his body.
This is what they are being told.
Strike that man with a piece of the
cow. Which piece?
Was it the tail?
Was it the
tongue? Was it the shoulder area? These are
all opinions that you will find in the
books of Tafsir. But again, an important principle
to remember is Allah did not specify
the the the the peace
because it's not important. What's important is what
happens after.
Told them to strike a piece of the
cow on the deceased body and then what
happened? The man came back to life.
The man came back to life.
And then Allah says, and then He pointed
at his killer. And this is how it
was found out that it was the nephew
that killed him.
And just like that, Allah
revives the dead.
Allah brings the dead to life.
And Allah shows you his signs.
So that you may understand
and have
intellect. So,
this is a story
that is miraculous in nature.
A man who died was brought back to
life
and Allah can do that. And you will
find in Surat Al Baqarah
5 different stories
that all show you Allah's ultimate power and
how Allah can revive the dead.
But we see Allah reviving the dead in
our with our own eyes whenever we see
the crops that die or during the winter
when the leaves fall and then during the
spring they come back to life. This is
the We believe that Allah can bring back
those who die and we believe that Allah
will bring all of us back on their
judgment. We believe in Allah's ultimate power.
So this shouldn't be surprising to the reader.
This shouldn't be surprising. This is something that
Allah can do.
And it's important that you remember this, especially
when you have people that will try and
explain these ayaats away and,
try to either tell you that this didn't
happen or, or sometimes you will find people
saying this is all metaphorical.
This didn't really happen this way. Fair Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala regarding this.
So,
what are some of the benefits that we
will find in this story?
You'll find in this story the benefit is
that
what was wrong with Ben Israel? Why couldn't
they just slaughter a cow? Wouldn't it have
been easy for them to slaughter their first
cow they saw? And, yes, it would have
been easier. But because they made it difficult
upon themselves, Allah made it difficult for them.
When they made it difficult for themselves, Allah
kept on making it even more specific for
them until there was only one cow that
they could slaughter and that cow was extremely
expensive and they had no choice but to
buy it. And they bought it with its
own weight in gold. Can you imagine how
much it cost them? But if they were
to listen from the beginning when Moses said
slaughter any cow, then that was what would
have happened. And you learn from this sometimes,
you shouldn't
seek information for the sake of making things
more complicated or difficult.
Now this is not the same as when
one is seeking information to learn.
Right? This is not what they were doing.
This was not what they were doing. And
there's an incident with Rasoolullah salallahu alayhi wasalam
when he said to the to to the
sahabah
that Allah has ordered for you to do
Hajj to so for Hajj.
Hajj Allah has ordered you to make Hajj
for Hajj.
So Allah has made obligatory upon you to
to go to the pilgrimage.
Then among the companions was one that said,
afikuliyayamin
You Rasul Allah. He said, every year, oh
messenger of Allah.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam admonished his
companion and said, if I were to say
yes, it would have been every year and
none of you would be able to do
it. Can you imagine if we had to
go to Hajj every single year? No one
would be able to to afford or do
this, which is why it's alhamdulil. It's a
that is only once in a lifetime, but
it shows you that sometimes asking questions that
are unnecessary
or unnecessarily
detailed is not what we are supposed to
do. This is exactly what the Bani Israel
did. The second thing that they did that
we are not supposed to do is they
didn't obey. They didn't listen to the prophet.
They were
hesitant and they kept on asking questions. In
fact, they were saying to Musa, are you
making a makri of us? Are you making
fun of us? What do you mean slaughter
a cow when we have
a a murder to solve? So it shows
you again that they were not in the
correct
mindset with regards to how do we
act with a prophet. And this is for
all of us. When you hear prophet Muhammad
said do this. Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa
sallam recommended this. Oh, this is the sunnah.
How do you react towards that? You should
be someone that is humble and listens and
obeys.
These are some of the benefits that we
learn from this story.
And again, this is the theme, be someone
that obeys.
Someone that,
YouTirullah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Someone that obeys Allah
Almighty.
And we find that similar theme in those
that that when they were told to not
transgress on the Sabbath, they used trickery and
deception. Don't use trickery and deception. Inshallah ta'ala,
I'm gonna conclude here at verse 60,
verse 73.
Jazakumullahqayriqwaniqwatifilah.
Our lessons are going to stop for Ramadan,
but there is another tafsir session that will
be happening that I encourage all of you
to join and that is the one that
will happen every day during the month of
Ramadan.
Sheikh Asa Hanif will be going through the
tafsir of Saudi.
Definitely join that and, and benefit from that.
And after Ramadan we will continue our series
in the tafsir of