Nouman Ali Khan – Comfort Zone vs. Compassionate Action
AI: Summary ©
The transcript describes a situation where rich and poor people are separated by a wall and try to access a garden without warning. The plan is to collect fruits and prevent problems, but there are exceptions to the plan. The speaker emphasizes the importance of being careful and not giving anyone access to the garden without warning. The use of punishment is a way to avoid future mistakes, and learning the Quran and being a part of one's lifestyle are key ways to avoid future mistakes.AI: Transcript ©
Hello. The Quran is talking about something that
happened 1000 of years ago. This actually still
happens now. You can have the very rich
next to the very, very poor. You can
have, you know, in New York City, you
can walk into the the the headquarters for
Merrill Lynch downtown, or you could go midtown
in in some of these big corporate buildings,
then you see a bunch of homeless people
outside.
Right? So the extreme rich and the extreme
poor are right next to each other all
the time. Some of you, are from Pakistan,
for example. I recently when I went to
Pakistan, they have these walled cities.
They have these complexes that are gated with
security guards with machine guns. And once you
walk in, you're basically in America.
There's malls and nice houses and all and
outside, there's guys selling fruit on the street.
There's a guy riding the bicycle
on the opposite side of the highway. There's
a bunch of donkeys, and this it's crazy.
It's 2 different worlds separated by a wall.
Right? That's the that's the reality of it.
Now these guys, they have they have their
garden back to the story. They have their
garden, and they're
about to make a lot of money
from this garden. But they have to drive
through, or they have to take their horses
and their carts and everything through the poor
neighborhood.
And then they have to open the gate
and get inside and pick all the fruit.
And when they go through the poor neighborhood,
the poor people are gonna see that they're
going to pick the fruit, that they can't
climb the wall, but they can see the
oranges from up the on top of the
wall. Right? They can't access the fruit, but
they can see it.
So now when they're coming out, they're gonna
see children crying. They're gonna see an old
you know, they're gonna see a mom whose
husband died and their bay babies are starving.
They're gonna see some old woman or old
man that that barely ate for 2 or
3 days. They have to walk by all
those poor people, and they're gonna feel like,
here, have have some oranges, have some apples,
have some bananas, have some this, have some
that. And they're like, by the time we
get out of town, we're not gonna have
any money left.
There's gonna be a problem.
So they came up with a scheme, and
this is the scheme recorded in the Quran.
In
the when they took an oath with each
other that we are going to reap all
of our fruits. We're gonna collect all of
our fruits tomorrow morning. That's it. One strike.
We can't go little by little because every
time we go, we end up giving some
things away, and that's not working. We gotta
go one time, get it done before
the poor, you know, the show up, before
social services shows up, before we get taxed
by the public.
Let's just go get it done quickly.
And there will be no exceptions.
And now these exceptions,
there's different ways
look at it. One meaning of that
is that
it's meaning
Insha'Allah.
Right? So they the one meaning is they
were gonna go in the morning and they
didn't say Insha'Allah.
But actually, the the the more contextual meaning
also is they were going to make no
exceptions. In other words, every one of them
is gonna show up. They're not gonna delay
this any further, and they will make no
exceptions from their plan. And what's the plan?
We'll see in a second. By the way,
you'll notice so far,
they haven't done anything wrong.
If they decided to pick their fruit in
the morning, no problem. Go pick it up
in the morning. You wanna make no exceptions
and go go there early? Fine. No problem.
Go get it. But
Allah says
But Allah sent
something that is an encircling
sort of punishment. You could call it a
tornado. Allah didn't Allah wasn't
specific about what came. Maybe a group of
angels came or a fire came that surrounded
it or a wind came or to a
hurricane, you know, tornado landed.
Something happened to the garden
while they were asleep.
So they're they're sleeping early because they all
made a plan, you gotta get up early
tomorrow. And while they're sleeping, their entire garden
has been,
Allah will
describe,
It became as if it's already been picked.
So you know what a what trees look
like in the winter season with no leaves
on them?
Right? That's what it looked
like. Alright. And they were going to go
to a fully green garden, but they're gonna
go end up at a garden where there's
no greenery, no fruit in sight.
But they have no idea. They were sleeping.
So they woke up. 1 of them woke
up, and they're like, hey, hey, hey, you
guys are still sleeping? Get up. Get up.
Get up.
They they start calling each other. Come on.
Get up. Get up. It's morning. We're gonna
get late. Our plan's gonna get messed up.
So far even so far as you're reading
the story, there's nothing wrong. They didn't do
anything wrong.
It's okay. Let's get up in the morning
and go.
Hurry up and march to your crop if
you're going to collect it. You better do
this. In other words, if you still keep
sleeping, you're not gonna get your share. Some
of us didn't say it like that. Like
some of, I don't wanna get up. And
the other guys, okay. I guess you're not
gonna get your share. We're gonna take yours
too.
Fine. Fine. Fine. And then he gets up,
and they all
go.
Now the crime.
Now they're
they're they're they're projecting in a a
a
al. It's a very subtle movement.
So they're walking, and they're barely whispering to
each other, and they're trying to be as
subtle and as unnoticeable
as possible.
So even when they're talking to each other
in
the ear, even though they're walking on the
street.
So now the first confusing thing that happens
is why are they being so secretive
from the it's their garden. They're not stealing
it. They're heading to their own business.
Why are they
so quiet and secretive about about all of
this? What is the secret thing they say
to each other?
It's almost as though one of them whispers
to the other and the other says, listen,
why are you making are you whispering?
Because I don't want to wake up any
poor people
If any of them wake up,
no no no poor person should show up
over here.
Right? Which you could even use your imagination
here if they went through the main gate
and they opened the gate.
Right? The gate makes a sound. And when
the sound happens, the baby wakes up.
A sound happens. Somebody just looks outside their
window.
Everybody's gonna wake up. So maybe they're trying
to go from a different route,
maybe climb the back wall, put a ladder,
climb the back wall, and get into their
garden, and get all the fruit out, and
the people will never even know that they
came into the garden. Right? They're trying to
be secretive about collecting their wealth. Right?
So
Right? So this is this is their plan.
Today, we're not gonna give any opportunity of
any,
any poor person, any helpless person to even
come into your company. And if you open
the door, maybe some of them will walk
in.
Some of them might we're we're not gonna
give them even a single chance.
This is the only aya in the entire
story that's their crime. There's no other aya.
Everything else, if you take this aya out,
seems like a totally halal experience.
They were just going early to work. They
were just gonna go pick fruit that belongs
to them.
Nothing wrong with any of that.
If you could argue one thing, maybe they
didn't say, insha'Allah. If you looked at look
at that in like this that tafsir. But
even that's not a major crime. That's just
nisyan.
That's that's forgetfulness, that's heedlessness, but you can
make a from that, and that's the end
of it. It's not like you say, oh
my god. I got I'm late for work.
I gotta go. And you don't say, I
I gotta go,
and now your business is gonna burn down,
and, you know,
gonna lose your job. I should have
said, All of it's gone. This one time
I didn't say it. That's not what's happening
here. Right?
So the the only crime is they're trying
to keep the poor from even finding out
or get getting any access. Right? That's the
idea.
Or perhaps this also means as they're leaving,
maybe people do see by the time they're
done picking all the fruit, it's not gonna
be 3 AM.
It might be 6 or 7 AM by
then. It's a lot of work.
So now people will notice
the trucks full of fruit and produce leaving,
and they might see just even some people
just looking at them.
So stare just staring at them. Right?
And just that look, they might, you know,
actually
suggest some of Hasilun argue about this ayah
that they
they,
in Arabic is to go in the morning,
but also go with aggression.
In other words, they'll have a certain look
on their face
that if
people see them, they're not gonna ask.
You know, sometimes you wanna ask your dad
when you're a kid, you don't wanna ask
your dad for some something. Can Can we
go can we go can we get a
burger? Can we get some ice cream?
But you check the face first.
And if your dad has a certain kind
of face,
you're not gonna ask for ice cream.
You're not gonna ask for kebabs because you
might become the kebab because the the look
on the face.
Right?
So they're they're like, let's have a kind
of face
that when people come,
they're not even gonna think about asking.
They're like, oh, you know, like, you know,
when I was giving teaching the details of,
I was talking about how sometimes in in
boxing or in UFC and other sports, before
the guy comes out of the locker room
and comes out into the ring, they pump
him up.
Let's go. Let's go. I'm gonna take him
down. Right? He's just pumped up and adrenaline
adrenaline's rushing. He's gonna kill his opponent. You're
a killer. Right? You're a killer. This is
this is the kind of pep talk they're
doing to each other.
You got it. No.
Punch a mosquito in the face. I'll take
care of them. This is the attitude with
which they're coming up.
And so they let's imagine they climbed the
fence
or they climbed the wall. They went from
the back roads,
and they get there.
No. No. No. That's not the place, man.
We we jumped the wrong wall.
This can't be
our place. We're lost.
So their their first the shock of seeing
their garden
was so heavy that they couldn't even believe
that it was their garden. You know, if
you if you study in psychology, the stages
of grief,
right, the the stages the first first stage
is denial,
and they're experiencing they're like, this is not
happening. This is not our card. You guys
jumped the wrong wall. No. No. No. This
is the address. Look. Google Maps is this
the one. This is the place.
And then they
said,
we
were deprived. We've been we've been deprived. Something
we deserve was taken away from us. This
is the meaning of the word It's
so ironic that they wanna keep everybody else
what?
And now they're saying it's so wrong that
we are.
Right? It's just ironic language.
But the I actually wanted to give you
this. I didn't even get to the point.
And the point was
the the beauty with which Allah describes
insincere
apology
insincere apology.
Of course, the Quran teaches us. The Quran
teaches us.
But there is such a thing as convenient
as.
And, this is actually a story about convenient.
I wanna tell you a little bit about
that.
You see in the Quran, Allah says.
The 1 5th in the middle, the most
balanced among them, instead of crying, this isn't
fair. We must be in the wrong place.
Oh, somebody must have robbed us. Mahrubun can
also mean somebody must have robbed us, or
these poor people, they're jealous, they burned our
garden down, they must have done it.
You know, this this is their response. But
the most balanced among them said, didn't I
tell you
didn't I tell you how come you don't
do?
Didn't I tell you how come you don't
do tasbih? This was not a problem of
tasbih.
This was a problem of in faq, of
sadaqah,
of giving.
But they understood something. When you do tasbih
of Allah,
you declare the perfection of Allah,
then part of declaring that perfection, they understood
originally,
being good to Allah means part of your
Tasbeeh is actually giving to humanity.
So they he didn't even say
He
said
But what's really interesting here is he didn't
include himself.
The guy who once the garden burned down,
he's like, I told you guys you should've
done this you should've remembered Allah. It's like
that.
Bro, you were you were with us a
minute ago. You weren't doing no remembrance of
Allah. You were among us saying, hey, don't
keep it quiet. Some poor people might find
out. A second ago, you were on our
side. The moment you see the garden burnt
down, you start giving us a. It was
convenient.
You know before that you were quiet before
you were on their team
right so this is you're already starting to
get a glimpse of an istighfar
which is too late
It's and and even then, is he blame
is he including himself?
No. He's blaming somebody else. Now keep this
in mind. He's not taking responsibility himself, and
he's making mention of something that's too late
now.
So they say, fine. Fine. Fine. It was
our mistake.
We were wrong.
We were the ones who were wrong. They
they admit it.
But then in the very next
they start blaming each other.
They start you you know, you're the reason
that we went this morning. If we had
gone yesterday, this wouldn't have happened. The storm
came tonight.
We should have gone last week, when I
was telling you. The other one says, you
know, you were if we gave a little
bit of sadaqa, maybe Allah would have been
so angry with us.
Well, 3 oranges, we wouldn't have to give
so much.
You know, 2 a half percent.
What's the big deal? But you're the reason,
you're the capitalist.
So they start blaming each other. Here's the
problem.
If you admit you're wrong, which they did,
They admitted that they're wrong. Once you admit
you're wrong, why are you finding somebody to
blame?
Either you're wrong or somebody else is wrong.
Right?
So the the first inter contradiction was the
guy didn't include himself,
he included them. They admitted, but they after
admitting, who did they blame?
Each other instead of taking responsibility
themselves.
And then they say,
maybe Arab will give us something better than
this.
Right? So they say maybe because next year,
maybe we'll grow the garden again.
Right? Now watch this. What does Allah say?
This is how punishment works, but the punishment
of the akhirah is much worse. It's much
bigger
Now let's contemplate. Allah is now saying this
garden story
should teach you something about judgment day. That's
what Allah is saying. What is it gonna
teach you about judgment day? On judgment day,
some people will come,
and they will say, it's not my fault.
It's his fault.
Didn't I tell you you should do this?
And you find in the Quran scenes in
which the person instead of taking responsibility,
they said, this is our abba did this,
or they didn't list, you know,
We were we were weak, we they they
wouldn't listen to us. They're not taking responsibility.
Then you find people in the Quran on
judgment
say,
like in Surat Al Anbiya, we were wrong,
we were wrong. And those same people in
the Quran will blame others,
These are our leaders, they were the ones
who misled us.
And then later on, again, on judgment day,
they're going to turn to Allah and say,
you know, hopefully next we'll give it get
another chance and we'll be better.
Right?
Right?
Just give me some extra chance. Just like
these gardeners are saying what? Hopefully, Allah will
give us a better by the way,
if they were truly resentful
and, you know, ashamed of what they did,
wouldn't the words be, you Allah, if we
had another chance, we would give sadaqah?
We would give to the poor?
But instead, what did they ask for?
They said, oh, if only we could get
a better garden than this
one
next
year.
That that's what they're asking for.
They still don't care about the 4,
still no mention of the 4. So Allah
says, this scene of this kind of apology
that's too late,
and this hoping that things would turn out
different, this is actually going to play out
on the akhirah also.
This is going to play out in the
akhirah also. Now what does this have to
do with the Quraysh? Remember in the beginning?
It's as if Allah is saying judgment day
will come, and a lot of these kuffar
are going to make the same excuses
that these gardeners are making,
and it's gonna be too late for them.
That's not gonna count anymore.
They're gonna hope that they were Muslim back
when they get there.
You know?
Then they'll say, oh, you know, absarna.
You know? We now we see. Now we're
ready to believe.
We're ready to okay. Okay.
Let us go back. Now we'll do good.
Isn't that the case?
So Allah gave this story
not just as a reminder for us for
for what is the reminder for you and
me in it?
We better be apologetic before the the garden
burns down.
Right?
And we better realize that our relationship with
Allah is directly connected
I don't wanna answer their call. Send them
to voice mail. I don't wanna return I
don't wanna answer their call.
Send them to voice mail.
I don't wanna watch this video clip. I
don't wanna see this message.
Right? If we just if we just ignore
it, then we can live our life. Right?
If we can ignore the suffering, then we
can just be comfortable in our own, you
know, in our own garden, if you will.
Allah says, if that's your attitude, I will
burn your garden down,
if that's your attitude. And that's that's the
warning that Allah has given all of us.
May Allah truly make us a people of,
a people of care for the rest of,
Allah's creation,
and a people that are sincere to Allah,
and may Allah make us all able to
make istighfar and tawba to him before it's
too late.
I hope you guys enjoyed that video clip.
My team and I have been working tirelessly
to try to create as many resources for
Muslims to give them first steps in understanding
the Quran all the way to the point
where they can have a deep, profound understanding
of the Quran. We are students of the
Quran ourselves, and we want you to be
students of the Quran alongside us. Join us
for this journey on bayinatv.com
where thousands of hours of work have already
been put in. And don't be intimidated, it's
step by step by step, so you can
make learning the Quran a part of your
lifestyle. There's lots of stuff available on YouTube,
but it's all over the place. If you
want an organized approach to studying the Quran
beginning to end for yourself, your kids, your
family, and even among peers, that would be
the way to go. Sign up for bayonatv.com.
Related Episodes
- Hatem al-Haj – Fiqh of Transactions #9 – Advance Payment Sales
- Mufti Menk – MY REACTION to comments about the Men in Niqab Boomerang on INSTAGRAM
- Nouman Ali Khan – Why Does the Quran Refer to Allah as He
- Musleh Khan – Spiritual Growth #5 Coping With Fitna
- Musleh Khan – Seclusion with Opposite Gender
- Hasan Ali – Seeing Allah
- Hasan Ali – How to get more than all super cars and gold markets