Sulaiman Moola – Tafseer of Surah An Naml #19 A confrontation between the arrogant and the weakened
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the history and characteristics of Islam, including its layered and covered messages, warner's love, compassion, and the concept of love and compassion. They use historical examples to explain the concept of love and compassion, and explain the distinction between the two world states. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the good deed of Allah, which is based on the ability to perform actions and produce wealth, and how the tests of one's health, success, and wealth differ from others.
AI: Summary ©
So in the previous segment, with the grace
of Allah, we concluded the tale, the story,
and the narrative of Surayman
Just a final reflection before we move on
to the next verse that'd be in verse
45.
In Tafsir al Uthmani, it is mentioned
that,
there was a subtle hint given
to Bilqis, the queen of Sheba, that when
she was ushered into the palace of Suleyman
alaihis salam, and, of course, there was this
deep water, Ludjatan,
which was then layered and covered by glass.
But for her, she did not realize and
comprehend, and it was almost an optical illusion
momentarily
and it was kinda embarrassing
that she
she exposed her calves,
and,
she thought it's deep water, so she tried
to wade. And then it was said to
her,
that your excellency,
this is layered and covered with glass.
So the message given then, this is captured
in Tafsir al Uthmani,
the message given there to her was that
just as you perceive this to be water
only to discover that it was layered and
covered by glass,
Likewise, you perceive the sun to be absolute
and ultimate,
but the reality behind it is, it is
Allah that has made the sun this brilliant
ball of fire and power and energy.
So that's the reality. If the eye is
open,
there are so many signs around them in
the heavens and the earth which reflect the
greatness, the grandeur and the magnanimity
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Fasalbih
kabirah
Ask the one who's learned and acquainted,
who is well versed and erudite and he
will tell you about the amazing qualities and
attributes of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Okay. We move on to verse 45
and now we,
speak about yet another prophet of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala and that is Salih alayhis salam
and his nation being Thamud and the location
being hejr that was the community that he
was sent to. And geographically,
this is in Syria.
So verse 45,
and indeed,
surely definitely our salna we sent
to Thamud the nation of Thamud
their brother. SubhanAllah.
You would find this is the description of
the Quran. The prophet was not a,
it wasn't a blood tie, wasn't biological,
but it was that affectionate and compassionate
relationship
which Allah refers to the prophet
to his people as a brother. So there
are two qualities that describe a nabi bashiran
and nadeer. Bashir, one who gives glad tidings,
nadeer, one who is a warner. But warner
doesn't just mean anyone who alerts you
or or signals a warning. Rather, nadeer means
a warner coupled with love, care, and affection.
And that is the condition of a Nabi.
The messenger
said, my example and your example is a
person who ignited, who kindled the fire.
And then the insects and the moths started
falling inside.
And he's trying to divert it. And I'm
holding you by your waist and pulling you
back from *, and you're slipping out of
my hands and you're just going head on
into fire. May Allah protect us and may
Allah save us. But that's the level of
love, kindness, care and compassion
that a Nabi has for his people.
It is unmatched in humans. It is unmatched.
The greatest level of love and affection that
anyone has for a a human is that
which is found in the Ambe'a alayhi, Musalat
wa Salam.
Okay. So, verse 45,
Indeed, we send to the people of the
food. I gave you the geographical
location.
Like Sayyidnayunus alaihis salam was sent to a
place called Nainwa,
Mosul which is in Iraq.
His nation comprised of, give or take, 100,000
people. Oh,
or slightly more. Now, one might ask the
question and this is in, Surah al Safad.
Oh, generally, is indicates
uncertainty. I think there were 10 people or
15. I'm not yeah, 10 or 15.
How do we reconcile the Quran saying 100,000
or more when the knowledge of Allah is
precise, when the knowledge of Allah is absolute?
And tafsirah Usmani gives a beautiful explanation.
100,000
meaning that they were the adults. Oiyazidoon
or beyond meaning the minors.
So often minors are included in the final
amount and often excluded. How many are you
coming? We 10. And then you come there
12. Well, you told me 10. Yeah. Well,
we 10 adults and 2 kids. So kids,
juniors, minors are included and
excluded. Allah's knowledge is absolute. Allah's knowledge is
absolute.
What was the message of,
to his people? Worship Allah. Worship Allah. That
was the common message by all the prophets.
Faidah suddenly,
They were in 2 rival groups. One, of
course, being the believers and the disbelievers,
challenging them, opposing them.
And regarding this rivalry and opposition
of the disbelievers
and,
the
enemies,
Allah
speaks about it in
chapter
7, Jews 8, verse 75 and 76, the
kind of confrontation and dialogue.
The proud, the arrogant, the elite from the
group of Salih alayhi salam, from the nation
of Salih alayhi salam
said to those
who were not weak but perceived to be
weak. There's a distinction between the 2.
Some people are by nature,
they are
introvert,
they are withdrawn.
That doesn't mean they are not hands on.
That doesn't mean they are not aware. That
doesn't mean they're not acquainted.
My honorable teacher used to say, everybody is
watching your actions.
Some are silent out of dignity
and others are silent out of desperation.
But don't be fooled that people are not
watching your moves.
Right? He's
He's he's he's a regular worker there. He's
sweeping the floor, but he's observing your shenanigans.
He's observing your operation. He's observing your unsavoury
activities,
but now he's
he's got a job to look after. He
doesn't want to press the panic button or
raise the alarm or blow the whistle. And
then there are others that can do so,
but they're choosing to stay out of it.
They don't want to embroil themselves in this.
They don't want a scar on their garment.
So they just, you know, observe, but they
are aware.
So the arrogant people said to not the
weak, they referred to
the Muslims as perceived weak individuals.
And as mentioned there in Fakhruddin Razi rahmatullahi
in Tafsir e Kabir.
That,
the arrogant
have been referred to in an active voice.
Again, it's it's Arabic grammar. Meaning, they themselves
were proud and arrogant.
The believers were not poor. The the believers
were not weak. They were not feeble.
It was the attitude and the arrogance,
of the haughty people. Again, we live in
a world where some decide who's the first
world and which is the third world countries.
Who has the right to decide this? Yeah.
No. No. We belong to the upper nations.
You belong to, you know, what, the downtrodden
or the poor or the 3rd world country.
So,
what did the arrogance say to the poor?
Do you believe
that Saleh is a Prophet of Allah? They
said, Of course we believe he is a
Prophet of Allah. Absolutely.
The arrogance said, Oh, well, we don't accept
him as a prophet of Allah. We don't
accept him. That was their arrogance.
Right?
In the next verse,
in verse 46,
Sayyidina Salih says
to his nation,
Oh, my people, why do you hasten in
seeking destruction
before repenting to Allah?
So your evil means they were asking for
punishment. They were so,
arrogant,
and they were, you know,
had the audacity
the audacity to tell Salih, alayhis salaam, please,
man, we're tired of your warnings and empty
threats. Come with the punishment.
So Allah would give so much grace and
respite to people and nations and tyrants and
autocrats and dictators
that they would
actually provoke the wrath of Allah. Pharaoh was
like,
Listen. Back off. I'm gonna assassinate
Musa, and he's free to call his lord.
I need to take action against him.
This man is posing a threat to the
safety of our land, and he's gonna cause
corruption here, and I need to eliminate him.
Can you imagine the audacity of pharaoh? But
that's the grace, that's the that's the clemency
and respite that Allah
gives.
In,
chapter 13, just 13 Surah Turad, Allah speaks
about this year. That people ask the wrath
of Allah before performing virtue and asking for
goodness.
The nation of said to
We're so tired of arguing with you and
having these debates and quarrels and feuds and
altercations
with you. Why don't you just show up
with punishment? Why don't you just show up
with punishment?
La ilaha illallah. May Allah save us. May
Allah save us.
So this is what they say Saydun As
Salih alayhi salaam said to his people
They said, you know what? You you give
off bad omen. You bad luck.
Right? Because there was drought there. There was,
division in the community,
and they attributed
the drought and famine and shortage to
said,
the the tragedy, the affliction, the difficulty,
your destiny that is coming is coming from
Allah and as a result of your actions
As a result of your actions.
You know there's a verse in the Quran
and I have this reflection and it's academic
now, but I'll try and simplify it.
So, it's a verse of, chapter 4, Juice
5. Allah
says,
whatever good you have is from Allah.
And whatever setback and challenges and difficulties you
have is from yourself.
And then a verse day after, Allah says,
say unto them, everything comes from Allah.
What's the matter with these people?
They barely comprehend anything.
Now the question is on that very same
page in 2 different verses, in one verse,
the preceding verse, Allah says your challenges, your
difficulties, your obstacles, your setbacks, your hiccups, your
snags,
come from yourself.
And then in the next verse Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala says everything comes from Allah. So
how do we reconcile? And this is mentioned
in Bayanul Quran.
The truth be told the good,
the accomplishment,
the prosperity in your life is through the
grace of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
without any
intercession or intervention of your action.
Because there is no action
that a human can do that can qualify
him for any bounty of Allah. Yes, you
perform a good deed. Again, that good deed
comes with ability from Allah. So you dependent
on Allah to perform that action.
Then you dependent on tawfiq from Allah to
be grateful for that bounty to be increased.
So in essence in essence, the good that
you have is from Allah without any
action from your side without any action from
your side.
It might have a superficial flavor of certain,
endeavors that you did. I give a simple
analogy.
A father gives his son a certain amount
and allowance monthly, and he puts that money
aside if he is, you know, what, economic,
frugal, structured, disciplined, etcetera,
which is so, important, you know, as they
say, marriage doesn't only depend on being 5050,
but it's also about being thrifty, thrifty.
It's not only about being 50, 50, it's
also about being thrifty, thrifty.
So here you give your son an allowance
and he puts the money aside and end
of the year, he purchases something of substance.
He buys himself a car or a phone
or he takes care of his own holiday
or he covers his,
tertiary,
you know, expenses, etcetera.
Now, if the father were to say, I
paid for it and he says, no, no,
no, no, no, no. I paid for your
debt.
Well,
kind of supposedly
okay if you want to argue. But the
truth be told that's the money I gave
you. I gave you. And so Allah says
to us in the Quran as well, you
are spending spend from what I gave you.
Spend from that over which I gave you
temporary ownership.
So here we come back to this point
here. Remember these people in this verse that
we just discussed here,
of chapter 27, Surah Al Nammal, they said
that, oh,
they said, bad luck is from you.
Said,
your destiny, your faith, and the conditions in
your life come from Allah, and that is
based on your actions. And I was exploring
that, and we were sharing this verse of
Surat Al Nisaa chapter 4, just 5. So
the good in your life is from Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Very academic. I'm just giving you a synopsis
of it. And as for the difficulties in
your life, then this also comes from Allah
as a result
of consequences
and repercussion to your evil deeds, oh man.
That's you and I. So when we say
everything comes from Allah, the good obviously comes
from Allah because I've just explained it. It
is only Allah that gives you the strength
to perform salah, then Allah rewards you upon
the salah. It's only Allah that gives you
the ability to be generous, then it is
only Allah that gives you surplus as a
result of generosity.
I gave you the analogy of the son,
and the father giving him an allowance. And
as for the setbacks in your life, that
comes as a result of your wrong.
Of course, the group of ambia are excluded
because in their life, there is no sin.
So this refers to the, you know, everyone
besides the prophets.
So your challenges, your difficulties, your obstacles,
this is,
consequences.
And here again, we take a cue and
we take,
you know,
direction
from one of the quotations of Sayyidina Hari
in which Allah
that whatever difficulties you encounter in this world
is as a result of your actions.
Say it now.
He used to say,
gives me a lot of hope.
People asked him how? I mean, Allah is
saying the difficulties in your life are as
a result of your wrong. So where where
where's the consolation or hope in the aya?
He said
because Allah is the most kind. And a
kind being is such that if he subjects
you to consequences of your wrong ones, he
will not penalize you again. So if Allah
has subjected us in this world to consequences,
then, that is a a a, you know,
optimism
that Allah has hopefully
cleared out that particular vice for us in
akhirah.
Anyway, we'll conclude on that note.
Sayyidina Salih alayhi salatu was salam said,
Your fate, your destiny, and the difficulties in
your life and the conditions come from Allah.
You are being tested.
Allah is testing you and bringing about conditions
because of your disobedience, because of your arrogance.
And Allah is alerting you so that you
change your life.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala makes mention in Suratul
Anbiya that
we will test man
with prosperity
and adversity.
So regardless of your condition,
the nature and dynamics of the test might
differ,
but every human
is going through a different test. If you
are healthy, the test is of gratitude and
obedience.
If you are sick, the test is of
patience and endurance.
If you are wealthy,
the test is of selflessness,
generosity, and kindness.
If you are poor, the test is of
patience and and and steadfastness.
May Allah
grant us each,
ease and fear in the test in which
he has put us and we ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for
ease
and
perpetual