Nadim Bashir – Conversations In The Quran #13 Story Of Talut Pt.2
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A long time ago, there was a box.
In this box, there used to be, it
used to be called a tabut.
In this box, there used to be some
of the belongings of Musa Alayhi Salaam.
Some of the ulema, they say, that some
of the belongings of Musa Alayhi Salaam were
in there.
Even the tablet on which the Ten Commandments
were written on, some of the remains of
that tablet was in this box.
And it was a theory amongst the Bani
Israel, that anytime they would go into battle,
if they had this box with them, it
was almost viewed as a good luck box.
It was almost viewed as, as long as
this box is within us, we're always gonna
be the ones who are victorious.
After a while, this box was lost from
them.
They did not have this box.
And many of them actually thought that we
keep on losing our battles because we don't
have this tabut amongst ourselves.
So Allah is telling them, through the Prophet,
that the sign that this man is the
king that has been sent to you by
Allah, designated by Allah, is that this tabut
that you have been looking for, for such
a long period of time.
And in this, فِيهِ السَّكِينَةِ What's Sakina?
The victories that they used to experience.
This tabut is gonna be brought to you
again.
And hence, this tabut was actually brought back
to them.
When they saw that tabut, that is when
they began to trust Taalud as their leader.
Now, the next thing is the next test.
At that time, Taalud said, gave them a
very clear instruction, now we're gonna head that
way.
But on this journey, many of you are
gonna get thirsty.
And we're gonna come across a river.
But this river is your test.
And he said, that anyone who actually stops
at that river, and they drink water to
their fill, then they are not from amongst
us.
They have failed the test.
At the same time, Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is not expecting something unrealistic from them
either.
You see, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said
in the Qur'an, anyone who took probably
one handful of water for themselves, that is
good enough.
But do not fill your stomach with water.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, فَلَمَّا
فَسَلَ طَالُوتُ بِالْجُنُودِ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مُبْتَلِيكُمْ بِنَهَرٍ
Allah is gonna test you with a river.
فَمَنْ شَرِبَ مِنْهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي Whoever drinks from
there to their fill, they're not from amongst
us.
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَطُعَمْهُ فَإِنَّهُ مِنِّي And whoever does
not fill up their stomach with this water,
mean they drink a little, they are gonna
be from amongst us.
إِلَّا مَنِغْتَرَ فَغُرْفَةً بِيَدِي You take a little,
no problem.
فَشَرِبُوا مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِّنْهُمْ The Qur'an
says, majority of them, when they got to
the river, they could not hold themselves back,
and they drink to their fill.
And hence, though they kept on traveling, but
in the back of Talut's mind, he knows
that these are not the people that I
need to trust.
The ones who actually listened, the ones who
obeyed, they're the ones who I can trust.
Then what happened after that?
فَشَرِبُوا مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَهُ هُوَ
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَعَهُ قَالُوا لَا طَاقَةَنَنَا الْيَوْمَ بِجَالُوتَ
وَجْنُودِ Now they came in front of Jalut
and his army.
Those who drank to their fill, because they
have already demonstrated that for them their desires
are more important than the orders of Allah
SWT.
Because Allah said, don't drink to your fill,
but they drank to their fill.
So for them their desires were more important
than Allah's command.
So those are the ones who said, when
they came face to face with the army
of Jalut and they said, لَا طَاقَةَنَنَا الْيَوْمَ
بِجَالُوتَ وَجْنُودِ There's no way.
There's absolutely no way that we can defeat
this army.
Look at them from top to bottom.
Look at how much they are armed.
There's no way we can defeat them.
The Qur'an says, those who did not
drink to their fill, they always kept Allah's
order at the priority.
Allah's order was a priority for them.
They said, قَالَ الَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُمْ مُلَاقُوا اللَّهِ
كَم مِّن فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةً كَثِيرَةً بِإِنِّ
اللَّهِ How often do you see that a
small group overpowers a big group?
Meaning, these people are saying, that let's make
history.
History is on our side.
How many times do you see in history
that a small group can overpower a big
group?
Today, we're gonna see this.
This is them, their way of building confidence
within themselves.
But at the same time, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says, they made a dua to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
كَم مِّن فِئَةٍ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةً كَثِيرَةً بِإِنِّ
اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُمْ عَصَابِرِينَ وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجْنُودِهِ
قَالُوا رَبَّنَا Now, this is a very beautiful
dua that I always recommend, especially in this
day and age, when Muslims are being persecuted
all over the world.
This is the time that we need to
recite this dua.
And these people who were with Talut, who
trusted Talut, the small group of people that
were left, who had iman in their heart,
they made this dua, رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبَرًا
وَثَبِّتْ أَقَدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ رَبَّنَا
أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبَرًا Ya Allah, instill within us
sabr.
Because they know they're about to go, and
this is not gonna be easy.
Only the person who knows and who has
sabr, they can go into the thick of
the army, and they can go and put
their life on the line.
So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying,
they made dua that, Ya Allah, grant us
sabr.
And not only that, وَثَبِّتْ أَقَدَامَنَا and make
our feet firm.
Why?
Because if you show the army, if you
show your opponent, that you are shaking, that
automatically, that is a moral victory for them.
So they are asking for confidence, they're asking
for thabat, and firmness in the battlefield.
But at the same time they know, that
the ultimate victory comes from Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So what did they say at the end
of the dua?
وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ Ya Allah, grant us
strength and victory over these non-believers.
And subhanAllah, once again, this is a dua
that you and I, we should be reciting
in this day and age.
رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبَرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقَدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا
عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ You can find this at
the end of the second, just the second
part in Surah Baqarah.
Memorize this dua inshaAllah.
Now, after that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
says, فَهَزَمُوهُمْ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ Because they trusted Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala, they came across them
and they defeated them.
فَهَزَمُوهُمْ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَقَتَلَ دَاوُودُ جَالُوتَ وَآتَاهُ اللَّهُ
مُلْكَةً وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَهُ مِمَّا يَشَاءُ Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala put that strength in Dawood Alayhi
Salaam.
And Dawood Alayhi Salaam was able to defeat
Jalut single-handedly.
And not only that, but that in itself
was that defeat for the entire, that victory
was for them.
But when he killed Jalut, they lost that
battle morally, and eventually physically they lost that
battle.
So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, how
he gave Dawood Alayhi Salaam then understanding.
He gave him prophethood.
وَعَلَّمَهُ مِمَّا يَشَاءُ And he gave him whatever
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala He wanted.
So this is the story in itself, the
conversations that would take place between Talut and
his people.
Now, there's just two things I want to
share with you at the very end, something
that we can learn from these stories.
Number one is, when it comes to leadership,
or when it comes to stories like this,
we would always think that if you're going
into a battlefield, you need to be courageous.
If you're going into a battlefield, you need
to be firm, you need to be built,
you need to be very strong and so
forth.
But there's one thing that we learn from
the Qur'an and that is, whatever we
think are the qualifications of victory and success,
they may not be the same qualifications of
victory and success in the eyes of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Let me give you a good example, based
on what is happening today.
For such a long time, for such a
long time, and please, try to understand what
I'm trying to say.
For such a long time here in America,
many Muslims, and I give them credit for
it, I'm not gonna take credit for them
away, I'm not gonna take credit away from
them, they've been working really hard and they
keep on working hard.
You heard me talking about this before standing
here, that when it comes to elections for
example, I trust that we should be more
engaged in our city matters rather than the
national matters because we don't have control over
the national matters.
You understand?
I'm not gonna sit here and tell you
that who to go and vote for in
national elections, and should you vote or not,
I'm not gonna get into that right now.
But for such a long time, Muslims were
so engaged and so much politics all over.
And wallahi, if there is one thing that
this whole Palestine situation, this whole genocide that
is taking place, if there is one thing
that we have learned from this is, that
wallahi, majority of the work that we thought
we're doing, and we're putting so much work
into it, it fell apart.
It just went down the drain.
We thought that we're making so much internal
connections.
But subhanallah, even the people that Muslims, they
voted for in the past, when the Muslims
went to them, these kind of same people,
I'm not gonna sit here and take their
names, but those same people, they said that,
yes, you did support us, but we got
more support from them.
And hence we're gonna support them.
I'm not saying that we stop doing work
in our city.
I once again feel that doing work in
our own city, being engaged in our local
elections, is far more important than the national
elections to be honest.
You understand?
But at this point right now, what I'm
trying to say is, that many people they
thought that the only way we will succeed
is by gaining political power.
And subhanallah, if there is one thing that
we have learned, and that is that, when
it comes to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
in the eyes of Allah, yes, all these
things are secondary.
But you know what's first?
You know what's first?
Building our connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
When this whole genocide started, it's important that
the entire ummah comes back to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
You see, what we think is success or
is gonna lead us to success, may not
lead us to success.
What's gonna lead us to success is first
of all, building our connection with Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
The ummah coming together, the ummah uniting together.
For us to leave our bad habits behind,
and coming close to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, and re-establishing a connection with Allah,
that's more important.
You know, I remember when this whole thing
happened, there were many people who were going
to these protests and so forth.
You understand?
And I'm not against it.
It's a way of, you know, growing awareness.
But wallahi, there's no point.
You can go to a protest, and come
home and miss your salawat, but there's no
purpose in that.
You understand?
What is the priority?
The priority is, in the eyes of Allah,
the priority is establishing our relationship with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That is the priority.
Everything else is secondary.
When we make what is secondary the priority,
and what is the priority as secondary, then
we're gonna have problems in our ummah.
You understand?
So these people, what they thought, what's gonna
lead them to success, Allah is saying, No,
what's gonna lead you to success is obedience
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Don't drink from the river.
Accept this man as your king.
Allah is putting all these demands on them.
That is what's gonna lead them to success.
So the thing that we learn from this
is, that what we think is gonna always
bring us success, may not be the ultimate
source of success.
It can help us no doubt.
But sometimes we need to go back to
the higher purpose of our life in order
to gain success.
And the last thing I'll share with you
is, that when it comes to the story
of Dawood and Jalut, you know subhanAllah many
people, even life coaches, many times they will
share the story of David and Goliath.
They will share their story.
And the whole lesson they take from that
is, that it doesn't matter who you are,
you can always conquer your challenges.
No matter how great they are, you can
conquer your challenges.
So it's their way of perhaps motivating people.
But you have to, at the same time,
you have to understand that in life, things
don't come that easy either.
I mean, no one knows the story of
Dawood before that.
Dawood عليه السلام, like all the people of
Bani Israel, he had to be patient.
He could not drink water from the river.
He had to accept Talut as his king
and so forth.
So a lot of times you cannot just...
You know, we look at sometimes people's success,
and we feel like, Oh khair, success is
that easy?
I can just go and just do this
very simply.
Success does not come that easily.
In anything in life, you have to trust
the process.
You have to go through the process in
order to succeed anytime in life.
So this is why, even when you look
at the Prophet ﷺ, if he wanted, if
Allah wanted, Allah could have brought multitudes of
people into faith, into Iman and Islam and
so forth.
But no, the Prophet ﷺ, he had to
go through the process.
13 years in Makkah, 10 years in Madinah,
battles after battles.
His family took so many hits.
They went through so much pain.
The Sahaba went through so much pain.
At the very end of the life of
the Prophet ﷺ, that is when Allah ﷻ
granted victory.
In life, even within our deen, there is
no such thing called easy fixes.
There is no such thing called easy success.
It takes time.
Even if a person wants to build their
spirituality, to be honest, it takes time.
It takes...
You know, you have to go through a
certain process in order to gain anything in
life.
In the case of Dawud ﷺ, he went
through that same process.
In the case of the Prophet ﷺ, he
went through that same process.
And for us too, we may have to
go through the same process.
Yusuf ﷺ, if he did not, if he
was not thrown into the well, he would
have never been found by that passing caravan.
If he was not found by the passing
caravan, then he would have not been sold
into slavery.
Had he not been sold into slavery, he
would have never ended up in the palace.
Had he never ended up in the palace,
he would have probably never become the Minister
of Egypt.
To become the financial minister of Egypt, it
was Allah's plan, he had to be first
thrown into the well.
You have to sometimes just trust the process
and go forward.
I ask Allah ﷻ to grant all of
us tawfeeq, to learn from these stories of
the Qur'an, and may Allah ﷻ give
us tawfeeq to apply them in our life.
Ameen.
Jazakumullah khair.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.