Riyad Nadwi – 0.8 Actionable Tafsir Dars 8
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the use of "tafs offline" in the Bible and the importance of the word "naive" in the Bible for the development of memory consolidation and reinforcement. They also discuss the use of names for reference and labeling, the importance of the creator's weight in our lives and the need for attention to words and actions. The speakers also discuss the concept of Allah's teachings and its importance in protecting people from evil attacks. They emphasize the importance of setting goals and setting goals for connecting with Allah through memorizing his words and meanings.
AI: Summary ©
In Jannah, when people have received all of
this pleasure, all of these
bounties and blessings from Allah and
What no eyes have seen, no ears have
heard, and no heart is conceived. The pleasures
will be such. And then an announcement will
be made that
Allah has something more for you.
Welcome to our 8th and final session for
this series,
for for this term. Sorry.
But in this
series of tafsir of the rules, which we
are
pondering
the verses of Quran with a view towards
purifying our hearts and beautifying our conduct.
I will start as usual with a quick
summary of the points we covered last week
in order to maintain
flow of progress in memory consolidation
and practice reinforcement.
So this, as we said, was tafsir
tafsir.
Tafsir
with the view of
inculcating
action
and reinforcing
it in our minds.
It is not just for musing or for
intellectual stimulation.
Quran is a book of guidance
aimed at remolding our minds and transforming lives.
It is meant to guide us in our
day our life journey.
Now last week, we pondered
the second word in the Quran,
which was ism in in the Basmala Bismillah,
And I highlighted several points to keep in
mind there. The first was that
the word ism is used at the beginning
of 3 significant places.
First, at the start of the training of
the first human being, Adam Adam
where he was told in the Quran,
where we are told in the Quran where
Allah
is saying,
So that's the beginning. Asma, the plural of
Islam.
He taught Adam all the names.
And then this word again,
Ism, is found at the beginning of the
actual revelation,
as in the first revelation to Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam via Angel Gabriel
in Jibreel Alaihi Salam saying,
read in in the name of your lord.
And then
we
the name is found at the beginning of
the text when you in
in
in in the Mas'af, Bismid Lehi El Rahma
El Rahim. So
from it from inception,
attention is drawn
towards the notion of name, the notion of
ism.
Therefore, in the beginning of every journey into
understanding guidance in the Quran
requires
some reflection
on the role and impose importance of this
concept of ism.
And here, of course, there are 2 more
points to bear in mind that the sentence
is incomplete. When we say Bismillah,
there is an incomplete when Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
is grammatically,
could be argued that it is incomplete. You
have to add a verb, and that verb
needs to be added
either, at the beginning or the end that
in the name of Allah, I'm doing so
and so. I'm reciting. I'm doing
in a, I'm I'm reciting the Quran in
the name of Allah. Now placing that verb
after Ismullah
does two things. 1 is that it makes
if you say I'm big I begin to
read in the name of Allah,
which is the is known as Mahduf, it
is assumed to be there,
that gives you what is known as Hasr
in Arabic, which is to
dismiss all other possibilities. If you're not doing
it, you're doing it only in the name
of Allah and by mentioning Allah's name at
the beginning, you are actually doing it in
the beginning.
Point number 2 was that reflections on the
word ism relates to our earlier discussion on
the importance
of having names for things in our linguistic
repertoire.
Names are what languages are made of. And
if you do not have a name for
a language or for a name in your
language for a particular
thing or a particular concept,
then perceiving that thing can become difficult, if
not impossible.
And point number 3 was that the word
isim is thought to be derived from 2
roots. The first one, which was asumu,
meaning elevation,
because the name raises the profile of the
named
in the mind and facilitates mentioning and remembering
of the named. Also,
it is a
lot to have come from,
Sima,
with Wasim, which is sign symbol indicator.
I told you that I favored the well,
the argument
of favoring Sumu was because of when it
goes into the into,
Tasriel, which is the diminutive,
it goes back to the original. So Sumu
is the one that that takes precedence.
Then we have, point number 4 was that
there are lively discussions in the legative
in in the legacy of the scholarship
on what is the relationship between the reference
and the referent.
Is the name different from the thing it
names, or is it the same thing?
Now scholars have debated this, at length, but,
a good answer is what we have from
Imam Ghazali in this point. He says, Inal
Inalil Ashiayi wududan fil ayan,
wududan
fil adhan, wududan fil lisan.
That things have an existence in reality, an
existence in the mind, and an existence on
the tongue.
And as for the existence in reality in
Arian, that's the original meaning of that's the
real existence.
And then the imagined then we have the
imaginative meaning, that's the one in the at
hand, in the mind, and then the indicative
meaning, which is the one in the word,
in the language,
and he gave the example of the sky
which we went through anyway. So ism is
not the same as that which it denotes.
A name is that which places which is
placed for an indication, a reference, and annotation.
Then,
point number 5, that in our day to
day lives, we seldom use sentences as, you
know, we do not say, in the name
of so and so, open the door, in
the name of so and so, give me
x, y, and z.
To do so to do something in the
name of person of a particular person to
speak in those terms,
seems somewhat dated. It means outdated, perhaps.
Whereas in the pre Islamic period,
in Arabia, it was common practice.
Islam
when Islam it it was common practice for
people to say in the name of that
and obza, you know, bismillat,
bismillat, bismillrudza.
And Islam came to show us to show
people the futility
in seeking blessings and honor from idols in
in the mention of their names.
Idols that are not on a that are,
in themselves, unable to,
mention the
that are unable to benefit themselves.
And the Quran gives a beautiful example that
they could not create a, a fly, and
if a fly took something from them, they
wouldn't be able to retrieve it.
Then point number 6 was that the Quran
calls the believers to recognize the importance,
the the important role of the,
of names, the important role of the of
name in in
when attached to up to Allah's name and
and name in general, by using the word
name in in 6 different ways,
and and giving
an idea of difference in quality of names.
So he says that the first was to
recognize the arbitrary nature of names being used,
by by
the names we we invent,
in in.
That these are names, the names that you
and your forefathers have invented,
names that that that
they have no authority.
That there's no authority from Allah in the
names we
we make and we invent.
And the second was that,
where Allah
reminds the believers of his own beautiful names.
He says,
that Allah has the most excellent beautiful names,
so call him by his name.
3rd was to
a call to indulge in the mentioning and
remembering of Allah, of your Lord with Tabatun.
And we spoke of what Gurisma rabbika, what
Tabatalillahi Wa Ta'ism here is mentioning
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is drawing your attention
to to the concept of ISM.
And then there's Tabteelah,
and we will talk more about that. And
then the 4th was to mention him mention
and remember,
the name with regularity and punctuality.
That mentioned, remember the name of your lord
morning evening. So it's not something you do
just once or a few times, but it's
regularity.
And then the 5th was drawing attention towards
the value of the practice of Dhikr and
the practice of mentioning his name. It is
it is a name that carries the highest
value.
The the highest
the name that is most high. And then
reinforce again in Surah Baqiyafasab Bismi rabbika l'azim.
And, glorify the lord. Glorify glorify the name
of your lord, the supreme.
And then again, in Surah Al Rahman Tabar,
Akasmur Rabbika,
Dhil Jalari wal Ikram, blessed be your Lord's
name full of glory and majesty.
And then, finally, in the 6th
instruction, we have Allah
establishing a rule for the food we eat.
In in saying in Surat Al Anam,
he he says to us,
eat then only
that over which Allah's name has been pronounced.
And if you truly believe in his revelation
that that so,
the name of Allah is what distinguishes for
the believer Halal from Haram.
You're you're not allowed to eat that piece
of meat on your plate because, and,
you know, you're only allowed, sorry, to eat
that meat of that piece of meat on
your plate
because someone, while slaughtering the animal, mentioned the
name
saying, Bismillah Ullahu Akbar, so that is it.
And then point number 7 was that we
should not foster
any superiority
complex over earlier generations
in thinking that we are now civilized, you
know, modern and names are not important,
as it was in the past because
modern life is saturated with the use of
names like no society before it in all
of history.
This is what we have discovered.
We're not
repeating names of idols anymore, but
our perception and our choices
are governed by names in the form of
brands.
Nowadays, we're not branded by hot iron prods
that on our skin, which is where the
word branding came from,
but the names of companies and products are
seared and singed into our brains
through multiple exposure at the rate of 4
to 10000
adverts per day that we're exposed to.
These are thousands of messages
with thousands of names everyday
that invoke each name invoking strong emotional responses
in our brain, hearts, and minds.
Point number 8 was that the in in
general, names play the significant,
in general, names play significant roles in our
life from,
language, perception, to from recognition to orientation,
from sense of value and and much more.
But when it comes to the most important
name in our lives as Muslims,
it is the name of our creator, Ismullah,
and
we need to give our attention, give it
our best attention, and be vigilant about the
things that distract us from remembering Allah.
And to do it with Tabaktu, this this
was the concept we dealt with last week,
with severing, with cutting, isolating ourselves, isolating the
mind, focusing from the distractions
to focus your heart towards Allah alone,
avoiding the bleeding of our worldly pursuits into
into our worship of Allah,
and striking a clear distinction
between the limits of need and the expanse
of greed.
With consistency in the conduct of Allah,
resistance to things that interject
and cast shadows and distract us from focusing
with heart and mind on the name of
Allah. Because if naming and branding is owning
as it the origin of it where it
comes from, the branding that they used to
do with animals. If naming and branding is
owning, then know that you are in your
entirety
owned by Allah. You belong to Allah.
We belong to Allah and to Him, we
will return. Therefore,
His name must reign supreme
in our mind, in our soul
and in our hearts,
not the names of brands, celebrity and fame.
Point number 9
was your action point. As we said, this
is actionable tafsir, and the was to follow
the instructions in the hadith reported by Imam
Bukhari,
in his audible Mufrad to recite the Duaa
three times that hadith.
That dua practice it 3 times in the
morning and 3 times in the evening for
protection.
And saying Bismillah generally,
for anything significant we do because there are
reasons for that. In fact, there are 4
4 reasons. The first is that,
of because of the strong exhortation
in the verses we've read earlier and also
echoed in the Hadith,
where Allah said,
that every anything that is start that that
is not that is not begun with Bismillah.
And a lot of hadith
as well, but
is is mutilated or is incomplete or or
is insufficient, is deficient.
And and so the the believer has to
have this at at every juncture of their,
in their life. Not
only in the beginning,
if it is used also as a corrective,
you know, that you you you correct things.
The prophet
was traveling once and someone was on, a
a pillion riding behind him on a horse,
and the horse slipped. And the Sahabi said,
said Shaitan.
You know, but Shaitan be cursed. Shaitan,
be be devil. Yeah. Shaitan,
and said that don't say that. Don't say
it because if you mention his name, he
will feel that he has caused stuff and
he will grow. He will he will be
he will be ingratiated.
So what you should say then you should
say Bismillah, and it he will shrink. He
will shrink because of that. And we said,
you know, even speak of English now, we
pronounce half of his name whenever something goes
wrong. It's a cursed word, but
but it is from Shaytan. It's from the
name of Shaytan, which means filth. Half of
Shaytan, you you know what I'm talking about,
is that word that people say when things
go wrong, instead, we should be saying instead
of saying Shaytan's name, we should be saying
what? Bismillah,
and that recovers. That that that
brings the blessing of Allah onto it. So
the that's the first reason it's we we
say it is is we we bring it
brings you to the second reason is it
brings you to iflas.
It brings you to recognizing the reason why
you're doing things in in bringing focusing your
mind that I'm not doing it to show
off. I'm not doing it to impress, you
know, x, y, and zed. I'm doing it
solely for the purpose for for the pleasure
of Allah.
The third reason why you say this, Bismillah,
is that Allah
help should be a company. You should you
should you should seek the help of Allah,
the barakah of Allah,
the assistance of Allah. So when you say
Bismillah, you're securing blessing, you're securing a, say,
help from Allah
and the Tawfiq to to to increase you
in Tawfiq, the will to do what you're
doing. And then the 4th reason is also
when you mentioned these when you mentioned Allah,
when you say the Basim Allahu Say, Bismillah,
you're you're also asking Allah to accept
your to accept your your deed, to have
kabool. So
so
not just at the beginning of doing things,
it's
during doing doing it as as well.
Yeah. So now today, I want to move
on to the 3rd word in the Quran,
which is the 3rd word in the Basmala
and
which is the 3rd word in the sentence,
which we have touched on in previous in
the previous two sessions. But
tonight, I want to dedicate the focus on
Luft ul Galah. Luft ul Galah is the,
the name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. By
looking at it from 3 vantage points, at
least, first,
it's the meaning in the tafsir legacy.
And then
the looking at the idea of meaning itself
from old and new theories of meaning, what
what is meaning? We need to understand that.
And then from the perspective of limitations of
the human mind, we need to understand that
as well.
So starting with the, Tafsir legacy,
the meaning of,
the word of majesty. This is what this
is done, which appears in the Quran, some
2,006,
2,673,
according to my counting. There are other, ways
of counting, but, yeah, the 2,673,
times this is this is,
arrived in the Quran.
The word Allah is a proper noun
of
of of the one whose existence is by
necessity
and deserving of all praises. Right?
That there that He is the creator of
all things and there is none deserving of
worship but Him. This is a major topic,
the topic of Allah
because this is revelation is to is to
connect you to Allah, to bring you to
recognize your Creator.
And this is captured succinctly in Surah Al
Ihlas.
Allahu Samad, lam yalid, walam yulad, walam yabulam
yabulahu yabulahu gufuwal ahad, that He is Allah.
He is the 1, the eternal,
he is the 1, the eternal refuge. He
is he neither begets nor is born, and
nor is there any equivalent. And now this
is important. There is no equivalent to him.
And then again in Surat, in in in
the in Surat Baqarah Ayatul Kursi, Allahu lalaha
illahu al Hayyul Qayyum
Allah Allahu, there is no deity except him.
Al Hayyul. Al Hayyul. This is the this
is the ever living. This is what distinguishes
us from
Christianity.
This is the core distinction between us and
Christianity because we believe that Allah is Al
Hayy. If it dies, it is not God.
That's that's our
position that a quality of God is that
he never dies. He's ever living that never
dies. So he's al Hayyul Qayyum. He he's
ever living. He never dies.
And so and then, Al Qayyum is the
sustainer of all existence. Let.
Neither drowsiness overtakes him nor sleep.
That to him belongs the belong belongs what
is in the heavens and the earth.
And who is it that can intercede with
him except by his permission?
He knows what is presently before them and
what will be after them, and they,
and they and they they encompass not a
thing without his knowledge
except for what he wills. What he has
given us of knowledge, that's what we will
get. His Kursi, His throne extends over the
heavens and the earth, and their preservation tries
Him not, and He is Most High, the
Most Great.
And then again in Surat Al Hashab, Allah
goes into the details.
He is Allah.
He is Allah. Other than whom there is
no deity.
Alimul Ghaybi wa Shahada nor of the unseen
and the witnessed.
Who who who are Rahm Al Rahim. He
is the eternal he is eternity
he is entirely merciful and especially merciful.
That he is Allah, other than whom there
is no deity.
That he is, he is the sovereign.
He is the pure, the perfection, the bestower
of faith.
Al Aziz ul Jabbar al Mutakabir, the overseer,
the exalted in might.
He is the superior, exalted above all, whatever
they associate you associate with Him. And then,
hu Allahu Kharakulbariul
Musawil lahuil Isma'ul Husna, that He is Allah,
the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner. To Him
belongs the best names.
Whatever is in the heavens and the earth
exalts Allah. They do his test be all
that is in the heavens.
You do not. We do not see it.
We cannot perceive it, but everything does does
the decay of Allah. And he is exalted
in might the wise.
And then
we move to
the what the the scholars have written about
this.
Wa'alfun Fit Torah and a thousand in the
Torah. Wa'alfun Fil Injeel and a thousand in
the Injeel. Wa'alfun Fitzbur and a thousand
in in in the Psalms. Wa'alfun Fil Lohil
Ma'fod and a thousand
in the
in the preserved tablet.
Now a 1,000
is a number that Arabs used to use
for for multitudes also. It doesn't mean precisely
that number. It could be just a lot
many.
Right? So and and we got we got
that feeling,
that that meaning
from,
the way Allah is describing
his words in in in Surat Al Kahf.
So he's saying that if the sea were
ink for writing the words of Allah,
the sea would be exhausted
before the words of my Lord were exhausted
even if we brought the like of it
as supplement. So
now as for the name itself, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala Allah
Hadar Isman
this is Hadar Isman Akbar. This is is
this is the biggest name. Akbaru Ismaha'u
is the greatest and the most comprehensive of
Allah's name, and the the scholar's scholar, Al
Radama, Innu who's Innu who is Ismul 'A'lam.
This is the greatest name, the Ismul 'A'lam.
And
that no one else has been is named
after this. So you do not find any
test a tafniya. You don't find jewel or
plural of it. There's no clarification of it.
Like you have Rahmah and Rahimun.
You would never have a plural for Allah
or or or or a jewel. Alright.
And
he's alone.
Do you know anyone who's named like him?
Allah's
restrict the tones of of of people from
naming themselves with the with his name. So,
that
Allah is a name
that encompasses all the characteristics of divinity. Al
Manaruto
Binaruto Rububiati in all the qualities of lordship.
Al Munfaril,
Bilbil Wjoodi Al Happipe. He is the unique
in in existence in true reality because all
other realities
depend on Allah. So they're in exit in
in true reality, he is the existence because
he is the unique, the true reality because
everything else depends on Allah's existence.
La ilaha illahu subhanahu
wa ta'ala al ladi is to hit go
and your body. He is the ever living
that deserves to be worshiped, and he is
that he is ever living
eternal,
and
forever and ever, the ever living.
Now there are different explanations about the derivation
of the name.
One is that this name is
Jamid. It is non derived. That
and every letter in it is intrinsic.
It's an intrinsic component of its structure
because we do not
drop the definite article when we use the
vocative. When we say You Ablah,
we do not drop as we do when
we say you ar Rahman. We do not
we do not say you ar Rahman. We
say you ar Rahman. But when we say
you Allah, we do not drop the aliflam
in there. So so
those who are of this opinion say that
it's they are all intrinsic bits of Bunyatil
Karima, which is the structure, intrinsic, the the
foundation of the of the word.
And the other opinion, of course, is that,
no, it does have derivation and arguments are
positive
for various roots and there are some 20
different opinions on this.
And while the final details of those discussions
are beyond the scope of this class, I,
I feel that some of these routes provide
insight
into distinct
semantic
galaxies of meaning that are useful for our
purposes.
Our purpose, which is what
We are trying to remold and enhance
cognition, perception,
across the language barrier and to increase
our cognitive engagement with the text.
So the first proposed route,
we'll look at is is the root
And alaha alaha illahatan
wa'uluhatan
wa'uluhiyatan
means abadaibadatan.
Means alaha means is that it it comes
in the in the in the meaning of
worship.
So,
and so they say it is in the
meaning of Ma'aloo,
meaning Mahgud,
the the one who is who's a deity,
the one who to be worshipped.
With when when you add the definite article
to it, it it, it forms the word
Allah.
That he is that the purpose is for
worship, so therefore it is. And and from
this, you have the word, you also have
the Arabic,
which and the plural is Aliyah.
And any anything else other than that's taken
as deity
will be it will be considered,
Ilaha, and he is an Ilaha'atun.
So that's the first one, Alaha.
The second, proposed origin is is the it's
from the word
and
which means
high,
high,
or highness.
And
they they call the Arabs used to call
anything that is high.
So with the with the if Tafar at
his shams, if if the sun rises, they
say that, lahat, lahati Shams, that it's risen.
So they call anything high land. Now this
is, of course, consistent with the root of
the previous word we discussed
from the root sumu, which is also Iltifa,
which also has high and lofty in it.
So there's some confluence of meaning flowing across
both words,
ism and Allah both are,
signifying in this sense Iftifa, lofty, loftiness and
highness.
The third root,
proposed root is.
It's from, and which means to be
confounded,
to be perplexed, to be baffled.
Almost take it or either in in in
Arabic, this is known as the.
So so you'll say, for Allah
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
that
Allah,
glory be to him,
when
when we come to
fully comprehending the divine and we will come
more to the come back to this later.
Now, okay. Yeah. So,
he this word Allah
is
the name for Allah in all of history.
The word is all is is found in,
it's as as Allah is the supreme creator
of the universe in all the revealed books.
This name can be found in the early
Semitic writings and in,
in the form of some
variations, but il, ilah, iloa
in the Hebrew Bible, in the Old Testament,
it is the same word, adoa,
which
is very close,
with with some variations in the spelling distorted,
but you can clearly hear it, Ill, Illah,
Illah,
are all the same. And in fact, in
in the Psalms, there's a Aramaic,
sentence, which is from the origin that the
word we the first word we the first
root, ila'i.
There's a sentence in in the Psalms, Psalms
22, which says, ila, ila, lima sabachthana.
My lord, my god, why have thou forsaken
me? Which is, Alay Salam, supposed to have
said that on the cross. We don't believe
he was on the cross, but
that's something that they've quoted. And when the
King James version was translated,
it brought that they they took the actual
Aramaic into the King James version. So so
if you read if you look if you
find the King James version,
in both in Matt Matthew and in Mark,
in Matthew 2746
and in Mark 1534.
You you will find the sentence.
So Eli from from the word from that
root of Eli.
It's it's there. And apart from that, if
you go back to the, the Canaanites, the
Babylonians, and Nabataeans, you will find that there
is a variation of this for the supreme
being,
without images attached to it.
Okay. Now
so the second vantage point, which is the,
from the vantage point of meaning, what does
meaning do? How do we derive meaning
in words in our language? If you ask
someone, how do you know the meaning of
a word? They will answer, they'll say, well,
through definitions, of course,
which is the traditional theory of meaning. We
understand words because we have definitions for them.
We look in the dictionary, you find a
definition for a word.
But if you think about this,
deeply,
we find that there is a problem here.
The definition theory of meaning is is that
you should know what a word means through
its definition. That's one definition and that's it.
That's what this word means.
So if I ask you what does the
word,
obdurate mean?
Does anybody know what that word means?
What obdurate means is an English word. We're
in Oxford. So, yeah.
So if I tell you that, okay, I
looked in I looked it up in the
dictionary and it says, oh, it means indirect.
Then do you understand that what it means?
Now I looked that up and then it
tells me, oh, yeah. Yeah. It means mulish.
Do you know what that means? No.
Okay. So then we move on to I
looked it up again and then it says
obstinate, implacable, stubborn, and you start to get
the picture. Right? So from other words, it
all comes in. That's what object rate means.
Instead, you're stubbornly sticking to your position.
So and but then there are some words
you
you you and when it comes to objects
as well, there is, take the the word
electricity. We know it,
from many different,
experiences with it and seeing what it can
do.
Well, not very many people experience electricity directly,
unless you're in the habit of sticking your
finger in plugs. But generally,
electricity, we know what it can do, but
we've never seen it. We've never done it.
We we know what what it is.
Now, now imagine you're standing on a platform
in Tokyo, and you picked up the wrong
dictionary. You're trying to find out where to
go. You see some symbols and you look
up in dictionary. You open the dictionary. You
realize you've bought the wrong dictionary. It's not
Japanese to English. It's Japanese to Japanese. So
what happens there?
You'll be lost. You'll be able to figure
out that, okay, these symbols are attached to
our but then when you read that, you
would you wouldn't be able to figure out
what was going on. So that's the kind
of,
problem that we end up with. It was
our
definitions.
If one definition is
is the way we derive meaning, then there's
a problem. That's now, traditionally, people have gotten
around this problem
by postulating
an internal mechanism,
not with words, but something corresponding
within the mind with words,
and this is called mental ease. We have
representations,
not but actual words, but but some kind
of men mental representation for words in our
mind,
and that is what helps us. And this
is known as the this has been the
standard theory of meaning for generations. It's known
as the Language of Thought Hypothesis. That's what
this is called.
But when you look, when when you actually
go into that, even mentally have a problem.
And that is, when you have everyone,
heard of the Chinese Room
example?
The Chinese room,
it's a thought experiment.
It's that if you imagine you're sitting in
a room,
locked in a room and there are 2
windows, 1 on one side and the other,
and people are sticking
a man someone comes and stick a card
in there with a with a with a
question in Chinese language.
And you have
a book,
a long list, and you can make a
correspondence of this
that this card the question on this card,
you look through your book, and you find
the answer with a card, and then you
slid out the other side.
Then the person outside who's receiving that card,
the people all the people outside
will swear that this person knows Chinese because
the answer is perfectly correct. You have taken
in the message, and you've given out the
correct,
answer. And you've taken the question you've given
out because you've got this correspondence. You've got
this large this book in there. You're in
the Chinese room. So but do you understand
Chinese?
I guess not.
So you don't know. This is exactly what
ChatGPT
is. It's just a large book
and heavy processing and lots of data, and
it can do but does ChatGPT
understand what it's saying?
That's that's the question. And and this is
the in the Chinese room example explains what
I what's actually going on. Is that if
you have a very large dataset and you're,
and,
good processing, then you'll be able to do
that taking this and the but it doesn't
mean that you understand what's going on, and
that's the problem.
So what is meaning? How do you understand
things?
Now
an alternative theory, which is relatively new about
35, 40 years in in the late 19,
people started working on something else. And it's,
it's about,
enhancing,
the way we
put meaning to words. When I say when
I say to you
a word, how does that meaning develop in
your mind?
And to to give you an an idea
of it, I'm going
to run a short experiment. If I say
to you that the that the
carpenter
hammered the nail
into the ground
and then showed you a picture
of a nail
in a horizontal position, the nail is in
the horizontal position,
you will indent and and ask you was
was this mentioned in the sentence? If I
say to you, read this sentence that the
carpeted neighbor hammered the nail into the ground
and then I showed you a picture, that
picture that if the nail is in the
horizontal position,
you will you will identify it quicker than
if the nail was in the horizontal,
in the vertical position. Sorry. And if it
is in the horizontal position, it will take
longer. Why is that?
Because you have run a detailed
simulation in your mind
of the carpenter of that nail in what
position it would be. So it's not only
thinking about all the concept of the nail
is something that's pointed, but in what orientation
that nail will be. So you're seeing it
in your mind's eye. That is how it
works. If I say to you the,
there's a eagle in the nest, your mind
will will formulate
an eagle with folded wings. If I say
an eagle in the sky, your mind will
simulate an eagle without stretch. That's how it
works. And we know this from a large
number of experiments you can you can do.
And, in fact, later on, I will go
into details of of this idea.
But but the point is that,
you will recognize things. If I do do
it if you do the reverse, if I
say to you the carpet to hammer the
nail into the wall and I showed you
a nail in the in the vertical position,
you will take longer. That that's how it
works.
So the point here is that why is
that so? It's because we simulate.
Simulation, when you read the sentence, you are
conjuring up detailed simulations
in the meaning of your mind, simulations of
orientation,
simulation of shape, simulation of location, simulation of
color, etcetera. So your meaning of the word
nail is not just the definition
in mental ease,
or your experience.
There is there are visual systems
of in play with this. So if I
say,
if I say to you, do not think
of an elephant, I don't know if you've
ever come across this book. There's a book,
called Do Not Think of an Elephant,
and try it. Do Not Think of an
Elephant. Can you? No. Because
the image of a large, tough, gray animal
will will will appear somewhere in your in
your mind,
even though I use you're saying not to
do so. And and that's the point. It's
an automatic
process. You don't do it. It happens. You're
you're conjuring up these with with every and
it's it's conjuring up with experiences and you're
visualizing it. It it's happening. You're you're the
pathway. It's just like your eye, you know,
your eye movement that moves with with with
with circadian, you jump. They used to think
that the eye,
when you read, move linearly across the page.
But then in the in the 18th century,
they discovered
that eyes actually move
in leaps. Our eyes are moving in leaps.
We're not moving, it is happening,
automatically.
It moves. It these are called saccades. It's,
it's jumping,
and it jumps, you know, a dozen times
dozens of times, actually, per second. So so
you can't monitor it, but there are systems
to monitor that the eye to to monitor
the eye, and then these becomes windows into
the mind. You can tell what kind of,
imaginations are going on in the mind depending
on the movement of the eye. Now
so similarly, when we attach
names,
to objects
that we can see visual things,
whenever a name is mentioned, an image of
that thing will be simulated in our minds
at some level bearing
the parameters
within physical within the physical world in which
we are, this three-dimensional world.
And this is
ex this is one of the major problems
with Shirk.
Right?
Why is that? Because I with idol worship,
every time you hear the name or say
the name of the idol, the image of
that idol idol is stimulated into your mind
together with all the physical limitations
of what and,
of the what and the where pathway in
the visual system. And Allah knows when Allah
sees you, He sees through and through you.
He is saying so if we visualize
if we visualize things about Allah, we'll be
putting Allah into,
into limitations, into the modern, into the into
the physical world's limitations,
and that's the problem.
Allah
is beyond all physical limitations.
With Allah, we cannot see him
with our eyes in this world, and therefore
we have no image to simulate
because there is nothing like unto him.
As we are told in the
So there's nothing like unto him. So whatever
you will simulate in your mind for Allah,
Allah will be above and beyond it.
And this is beautifully articulated
in the in the Quran in with the
in the words of Ibrahim alaihis salam.
That when the night the darkness came, he
saw a star.
He said, oh, this is my lord.
That when when it disappeared, he said, I
do not like the the those that disappear.
And then he saw the moon. When
he saw the the beautiful moon, the full
moon, he said, this is my Lord. And
then when it disappeared, he said, no. He
said, the
for.
That if my lord does not guide me,
then I will surely be among those who've
gone astray.
And then when he saw the sun,
he says, Hazar Rabbi, that this is my
this is my lord. But but then when
it disappeared, he said,
But I'm I'm I'm free from all that
which you associate with Allah.
None of these. I'm
I'm not. So the message
is that if you simulate something
as high as the stars,
know that Allah
is far above any star. And if you
simulate something as beautiful as the full moon,
then know that Allah's beauty surpasses
all in the superlative.
And if you simulate
Allah's if if you know that Allah if
you if if
you simulate something as bright as the sun,
then know that Allah's brilliance
surpasses
all in into infinity.
So anything we simulate
while trapped in this three-dimensional
world will fall short
of the grandeur and the magnificence of Allah.
That is your Lord. That is Allah your
Lord.
That He is the creator of everything.
And He is the disposer of all things.
Vision
perceives Him
laddudurikuhul
abasar
vision perceives
him not. Wahu are you the rikuhul abasar,
but he sees your eyes. The movement of
your eyes, your saccades, your your movement, your
leaping of your eyes, he sees wagwadratif
al kabir, and he is subtle and acquainted.
So, of course, Allah has created us with
a yearning
to see our creator as he did, as
he tells us, you know, and we all
have this yearning to want to. There is.
And as Musa Alaihi Salam
asked precisely
this, and he was told,
When he came to meet when Musa Alaihi
Salam came to meet Allah, he said, O
Allah, let me see. Let me look upon
you. Let me see you. Yes. Let me
look. Show me. Show me yourself. And Allah
said, that
you cannot see me.
So look, but then look look at the
mountain,
That look at the mountain. If it should
remain in place,
then you will see me.
And then, of course,
And but when his lord appeared to the
mountain and and glimpse,
then it rendered it asunder, leveled it, and
Musa alayhi salaam fell unconscious,
and he said,
And when he when he came when he
when when he awoke, he said, exalted are
you? Exalted are you? I have repented. Subhanaka
took to Ilaika.
And I am the first of the believers.
Now how do we find then meaning for
the word Allah?
How do we learn the meaning of Allah?
1st,
by
what is embedded deep in our souls.
That's the first way.
And this is in the conversation,
alastu bi rabbikum.
Before we came to this planet, before we
came here,
we were all in an audience with Allah
our souls, and Allah asked us, Allah said,
Allah, alastu bi rabbikum.
That conversation is embedded deep in our souls.
This is a conversation no one can deny
because Allah says at the end of the
ayah, and that
you will not be able to say, oh,
we were on the we are in Anhagafi'un,
that we were,
unaware of this conversation, of the of this,
of this pact that we have, of this
promise. In saying, this is a conversation that
we know instinctively
by every everyone that's born in this world.
Every child in every society
would know
by instinct, even societies
that do not have a creator God. Like
I said, the in the Shinto culture, children
instinctively know
the creator.
So the first primordial instinct
from deep within our souls, we know Allah.
The second
is that through the revealed words of Allah,
when you are given multiple words, when you
are given multiple words,
remember what we said, words explaining the same
thing,
conception and enhancement
increases. The more words you have for something
is the deeper your relationship with that thing
would be cognitively,
mentally.
So
and
we've seen 99 names and all the other
discussions in the Quran.
3rd is that through the cheat the teachings
of the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the
Du'a, the the the supplications of the prophet,
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, we recognize the meaning
of Allah
because
in the supplication, which we will talk about
as well. And then the 4th,
you recognize the meaning of Allah
through
recognizing
through the recognition
of our own incapacity,
the recognize recognizing the limitations in our minds,
limitations
of our perceptive capacities in this world to
see Allah. We cannot see Allah as Musa,
'sallam, saw that you cannot.
And recognizing that inability
in that recognition, in the recognition of limitation
itself,
there is growth in the meaning
of the word Allah in our minds and
hearts. Imam Ghazali al Khattelari in his book,
Al, Al Maqsa dus Asna fih, Sharq imarani
al Asma'adi
That the one who was trimmed, who was
cut, who was restricted
the wings of the minds
without restricting
his own, the the boundaries
of his majesty.
The wings of the minds are restricted, but
not the boundaries of Allah's majesty, of Allah's
greatness and honor.
And he did not create any way
to towards and towards
through
through knowledge of him, through knowledge of Allah,
through complete knowledge of Allah.
Except through recognition of the incapacity
of the limitations in the mind.
When you recognize your limitations,
then you recognize
you will recognize Allah. That is it.
So in in in recognizing your limitations, you're
recognizing,
And he is
just the he has control the the tongue
of of the elephants
from fully
praising, from fully,
articulating
the praise, its full praise.
So to understand the name of Allah, we
must first ponder,
ponder on its 99 names, the meanings, each
name, each of Allah's name
is a meaning of the word Allah.
Each of these 99 names is a meaning
of the word Allah,
and you can use any of them to
call upon him, but the primary name because
Allah is saying,
For Allah are these are these beautiful names.
This is where the names come from.
And in in Hadith, they there are 2
words that that are,
are used
for those who
read or
for for for for those who engage with
these names, they will enter into paradise. And
those two words
are Hafizaha, who has memorized it, and Asaha.
And, literally, Asaha means to count, means to
list or to record.
But the scholars of old,
the they they say that it means to,
or or and and and also to, to
practice, to to inculcate it, to to have
these qualities, the qualities of of of rahma,
the qualities of of kindness, etcetera. But
Aqdaha
also so it is it is possible for
for you to you to do both, just
to count, just to go through the names
of Allah.
Count them. There is benefit in that,
may
and may lead to entering into Paradise
through that, recording it, memorizing it. So Allah's
most beautiful names,
going through them, there is a special benefit
in it, and the benefit comes in engaging
with these names.
These 99 names is names to be engaged
with. That's why that's why they are there.
They're first to engage. So so Allah
Allah is Ar Rahman. He is the beneficent.
Allah is Ar Rahim, the merciful. Allah is
Al Malik. He is the king. Allah is
Al Qudus, the most sacred. Allah is Al
Salam,
the source of peace, the flawless. Allah is
Al Mu'min, the infuser of faith. Allah is
Al Muhammin,
the preserver of safety. Allah is Al Aziz,
the Almighty. Allah is Al Jabbar, the Compeller,
the Restorer. Allah is Al Mutakabir,
the Supreme, the Majestic.
Allah is Harik, the creator, the maker. Allah
is al Bani, the evolver. Allah is al
Musawhir, the fashion.
Allah is al Ghafar, the constant forgiver. Allah
is al Ghahard, the all prevailing one. Allah
is Al Wahab,
the supreme bestowal.
Allah is Al Razaq, the provider. Allah is
Al Fata'ah, the supreme soulba. Allah is Al
Aleem, the all knowing. Allah is Al Qabi,
the bestowler.
Allah is Al Barsit, the extender.
Allah is Al Khafiz, the reducer.
Allah is Al Rafa,
the the Exalter, the Elevator.
Allah is Al Mu'izz,
Allah is the Honorer of the Bestower.
Allah is Al Mudill, the dishonorer.
Allah is a Sameer, the All Hearing. Allah
is Al Basir, the All Saying.
Allah is Al Hakam, the impartial judge. Allah
is Al Adl, the utterly just. Allah is
Al Latif,
the subtle one, the most gentle. Allah is
Al Kabir,
the all aware. Allah is Al Halim, the
most forbearing.
Allah is Al Adhim,
the magnificent, the supreme. Allah is Al Ghafoor,
the great forgiver. Allah is Al Shakur, the
most appreciative.
Allah is Al Adi, the Most High, the
Exalted.
Allah is Al Kabir, the Most Great. Allah
is Al Hafid,
the Preserver. Allah is Al Muqid, the Sustainer.
Allah is Al Hasib, the Reckoner. Allah is
Al Jalil, the majest the Majestic.
Allah is Al Kareem,
the most generous, the most esteemed.
Allah is Al Raqib, the watchful. Allah is
Al Mujeeb, the responsive one. Allah is Al
Wasek, the Allah is Al Wasek, the all
encompassing,
the bond the boundless.
Allah is Al Hakim, the All Wise.
Allah is Al Wadud, the Most Loving. Allah
is Al Majid, the Glorious, the Most Honorable.
Allah is Al Ba'f,
the Infuser of New Life. Allah is a
Shaheed,
the all observing witness.
Allah is al Haqq, the absolute truth. Allah
is al Wakeel, the trustee, the disposer of
affairs.
Allah is al Qawi,
the all strong.
Allah is al Mateen, the firm, the steadfast.
Allah is Al Allah is Al Wadi, the
protecting associate.
Allah is Al Hamid, the praiseworthy.
Allah is Al Muhsi, the all numerating the
counter. Allah is Al Muqdi, the originator, the
initiator.
Allah is Al Mu'id.
Allah is the restorer, the reinstated.
Allah is Al Muhi, the giver of life.
Allah is Al Mu'id, the the creator of
death. Allah is Al Hay, the ever living.
Allah is Al Qajum, the sustainer, the self
subsist the self subsisting.
Allah is Al Wajid, Allah is the perceiver.
Allah is Al Majid, the illustrious, the magnificent.
Allah is Al Wahid, the one. Allah is
Al Ahad, the unique, the only one. Allah
is a summit, the eternal, the satisfier of
needs.
Allah is Al Qadr,
the omnipotent one. Allah is Al Muqtadir, the
powerful.
Allah is Al Muqaddim.
He is the expediter, the promoter, the promoter.
Allah is Al Mu'akir, the demayer.
Allah is the, the first. Allah is Al
Akhir, the last. Allah is Al Dahil, the
manifest. Allah is the Allah is Al Baqin,
the hidden one,
the the knower of the hidden.
Allah is Al Wali, the sole governor. Allah
is Al Mu'ta'ali,
the self exalted.
Allah is Al Dbaq, the source of all
goodness. Allah is a Tawwab,
the ever pardoning.
Allah is Al Muntaqim.
Allah is the avenger. Allah is Al Afu,
the pardoner. Allah is Ar Ra'u Ra'uaf,
the most kind.
Malik ul Mulk. Allah is Malik ul Mulk,
the master of the kingdom, owner of the
dominion. Allah is Duljalariwal
Ikram,
Lord of Glory and
Allah is Al Muqsit. Allah is the just
one. Allah is Al Jamia,
the gatherer, the uniter. Allah is Al Ghani.
Allah Al Al Allah is,
Allah is Al Jallari wal Ikram. Allah is
Law is the Lord of Glory and Honor.
Allah is Al Muksit, the Just One. Allah
is Al Jamia, the Great the Gatherer, the
Uniter. Allah is Al Ghani, the Self Sufficient,
the Wealthy.
Allah is Al Muhni, the enricher.
Allah is Al Many'a, the withholder. Allah is
Al Dhar, the distressor.
Allah is Al Nafir,
the the Prepetress, the Benefactor.
Allah is Al Nour, the Light, the Illuminator.
Allah is Al Hadi, the Guide.
Allah is Al Badiyyah,
the Incomparable
Originator.
Allah is Al Baqi, the Everlasting.
Allah is Al Warith, the inheritor, the hair.
Allah is Al Ar Rashid,
the guide, the infallible teacher. Allah is a
sabur,
the forbearing, the patient.
This is to know the meaning of Allah
through these beautiful names,
recognising them, reciting them, going through them, counting
them.
And through these
with with these names, it will connect to
that instinct in our, that deep instinct in
our souls that Allah has revealed. And also,
as we said, the Surah, the the
dua, the dahuat,
the supplications of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
who said, Allah.
Oh, Allah. I'm your slave. I'm a son
of your slave, and I'm a son of
your female slave. My my forehead is in
your hand. You have control over me. You
your judgment
upon me is assured. Your decree concerning me
is just.
As Aluka,
Oh, Allah, He's saying that I ask you
by every name,
saying to Allah, I ask you by every
name that you have named yourself,
with every name that you have named yourself
with revealed in your book, talk to any
of your creation, or kept onto yourself
in the knowledge of the unseen
that you that is with you to make,
asking Allah in all of this, all the
every name, the one even the ones that
are kept that to make to to make
the Quran
to make the Quran, Nur Rasad and Rabi
Aqalbih, to make it the spring of my
heart. And
the light of my chest,
and the banisher of my sadness,
and the reliever of my distress.
Beautiful words of Rasoolallah
with
reference to the names.
So finally,
we learn the meaning
of the word of Allah through recognition
of our limitations. This is what we're saying
through the words of Allah and through the
limitations in our own minds. But in the
next world, we will have the pleasure to
see Allah. We will. Allah says in the
Quran,
Some faces on the day of judgement will
be brilliant looking at their Lord. And this
is further explained
in Hadith
that, you know,
that, I I I mean, that
the pleasures of the of of this world,
if you take the person who has enjoyed
this life the most,
and this is to give you context. If
you find the person who has enjoyed life
from all of history, from Admai Salam to
the last person that will be born in
this place, you take all human beings and
find the one who has enjoyed life in
this world the most,
and you took him
and
dip him into, into, into the fire. He
will forget it all. And if you took
the person from
time of Adam to the end of time
who has suffered in this world the most,
and you dip him for 1. And he
said, Khamzat and Wahidah, that they will dip
him, that the angels would take him and
dip him into Jannah for just one moment
and take him out. And then they will
ask him, have you suffered? And he will
say, but I'm all bad. I I've never
suffered in my life. Just by seeing
the pleasures of Jannah for one second,
just one dip. That is how powerful
the pleasure
of of the of Jannah is compared
to the pleasures of this world.
It will eclipse everything. So
in Jannah, when people have received all of
this pleasure,
all of these
bounties and blessings from Allah and
What no eyes have seen, no ears have
heard, and no heart is conceived. The pleasures
will be such. And then an announcement will
be made that
Allah has something more for you.
And they will say, what? What can Allah
have for us? We've just given us some
of everything. But what we beyond our wildest
dreams, we have nothing.
What could he give? He has more for
you? He said yes.
And then when they will be called Fayukshafuil
Ijab,
and then the veils will be lifted
and we will see our Allah. This is
not
the restrictions of this world. We in there
now we will be in
in a Nasuniyyam.
Nasuniyyam
was a matu
there was a matu in Tabahu. He had
said that
in this world, we are like dead. We
are we are the people are asleep. And
when we die, it is like we we
we will be truly woken up then when
we'll be waken up. So we'll be waking
up our senses
and we'll be we'll be in a different
reality there.
And
and
then on the day of judgement,
in in Jannah, those people who have enjoyed
Jannah, who've seen the beauties of Jannah will
be told that Allah has something greater for
you, and that great thing
will be
the veils will be lifted, and we will
see Allah. And when we see Allah,
Rasulullah
swore, he said by the, I
swear by the name in whose hand my
life is, that Ma'u Artu that when they
will see, when they will see, for Ma'u
Artu Shay'an
Ahamba ilayhim not ri'ilarubim
that
in front of this joy they will have
in looking upon Allah,
That joy will eclipse all the joys of
heaven, that nothing will be as nothing would
be as pleasurable as being a saying of
Allah.
May Allah
give us that
pleasure, insha'Allah.
Now for your action, for your action point
over the holidays, I know it's going to
be a long holiday. So I want you
to set a goal to
memorise these 99 names
as building your connection with the name of
Allah,
building your connection with the name of Allah
through memorizing these 99 names and if possible,
the meanings as well.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala replace
the dominance of worldly names and brandings in
our heart with the thick of his blessed
names
and keep our hearts focused on him.
It is,
I must apologize first for coming late and
first and then for going over time. But,
it's the last,
lesson for the term, so, hope you will
forgive me for this. Let's
Oh Allah, cleanse our souls and fortify our
hearts with the dikki of your beautiful names.
Oh Allah, grant us refuge
and protection from all designs of evil.
Oh, Allah, we've gathered here today
seeking your guidance,
seeking your mercy.
We're begging for your forgiveness.
We are repenting from all sins and returning
to you,
seeking your love and your grace.
All these young people have walked in the
cold and come here today to ask for
your forgiveness.
They are here today with raised hands as
beggars do, and they're asking, we are begging.
We're begging your kindness. We're begging of your
love and your mercy.
Oh, Allah, you are the most kind. You
are the most loving.
Do not turn us away empty handed.
Oh, Allah, if you were to turn us
away,
we have no one to turn to.
We have no one but you. You are
our only hope, our savior.
We have no protection except you. Oh, Allah,
protect us and protect our brothers and sisters
suffering in the world
and then especially in the world, in the
land of Masjid Al Aqsa.
Our brothers, oh, Allah, our brothers, our sisters,
our innocent children,
our mothers, our fathers,
and our elderly. The sick are suffering great
pain
and oppression at the hands of those who
have lost all sense of humanity and mercy.
With these feeble hands and painful hearts and
tearful eyes,
we beseech you, oh, Allah.
We're begging for your help and your mercy.