Taimiyyah Zubair – Taleem al Quran 2021 J01-013C Tafsir Al-Baqarah 74
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The segment discusses the hardening of the heart after Islam's ridera Zechariah spoke to the Bani Israel about a dead man. The use of trickery and mockery in religion as punishment for breaking the Bible covenant. The concept of hardness of the heart is discussed, including the benefits of being aware of one's behavior and the potential for softening the heart with actions and behavior. The heart is not just a physical thing, but a physical connection with the beast is crucial for healthy heart health.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah AR Rahman AR Rahim verse number 74. so mcuh set puluh Bukom embody VALIC then your hearts became hard and Summa Passat polu Bukom. Your hearts became hardened when mimbar the Dalek after that, after what? After Allah subhanaw taala showed you so many signs, which should have given you understanding and that understanding should have softened your hearts. It should have made you more obedient and more submissive to Allah. However, instead of your hearts becoming soft, what happened is that your hearts became hard, because you see in the previous ayah Allah subhanaw taala mentions Kedah Lika your healer who will Mota where you recon Aya to healer, a local dark balloon, the Bani
Israel witnessed a dead man come to life, right, and that dead man spoke in front of them and seeing such a miracle should have made them understand the power of Allah azza wa jal, and it should have made them more humble before Allah azza wa jal, but instead of their hearts becoming soft, and compliant, and obedient, what happened their hearts became hard. So some Maka said Kulu Bukom embody Dalek. And if we go beyond what was mentioned right before this, if we see that before the previous ayah, before the incident of the dead person coming to life, we learned about how the Bani Israel used here, right tricks when it came to the matter of Sabbath, and also they marked at Musa alayhis
salam by their excessive questioning that ask your Lord, what kind of a cow is it? What is its age? What is its color? Clarify to us, we're still not clear about what kind of a cow it should be. So the use of trickery and the use of mockery when it came to religion. This is something that hardened their hearts. And we see that before those incidents. We learn about so many blessings which Allah subhanaw taala bestowed specifically upon the Bani Israel, the blessing of how, you know they were rescued from the tyranny of fit our own, and then how the sea was parted for them, and how they were given money and Salwa, the 12 springs, and the cloud, so many blessings, and so many incidents that
happened. All of these things should have softened their hearts should have made them more obedient. But Allah subhanaw taala says some Makossa Kulu Bukom mimbar Daedalic in certain man either ayah number 13 Allah subhanaw taala says Furby man knuckled li Meetha home la now Whoa, whoa, Jana Pulu boom Casia because of their breaking of the Covenant, the covenant which they made with Allah, and what was that covenant that they would obey Allah, right? Remember, the mount was lifted over them, and they were told to hold on to all of the teachings that they were given and remember those teachings, but what did they do instead of obeying Allah subhanaw taala they disobeyed Allah. They
used trickery, they used mockery, and they openly, you know, broke the covenant which they made with Allah. So as a result of that, what happened? Allah subhanaw taala mentions that he cursed them. And he also made their hearts hard. Would your Allah coloboma tarsier so thammakaset Globacom. This is actually a punishment, a punishment for what? A punishment for disobeying Allah, a punishment for being ungrateful to Allah, a punishment for marking at the religion of Allah, a punishment for using trickery in matters of religion. So this is a punishment, but this punishment is given for a crime. So what was their crime? It was their breaking of the Covenant, it was their disobedience. It was
their mockery. So So NACA set Kulu buku mimbar Daedalic in Surah, Al hadith is number 16. Allah subhanaw taala mentions the people of the book and he says that fatale RLA, he will Emma do fucka set Calobra home and a long period passed over them and their hearts became hard. Meaning when they had the Scripture, they had the teachings they enjoyed all of those, you know, privileges and blessings. And they did not bother to show obedience to Allah. And instead they you know, relied upon assumption and their faults, Imani, as we will learn about their wishful thinking. What happened their hearts became hard and fatale
You will Emma do focus at Hulu boom. Because when you learn about a command of Allah, then what happens is that you know, at the beginning, a person's heart is very soft, right? They're very obedient, they are afraid of Allah. But then what happens is that, you know, they commit a sin, they feel bad about it, they violate one limit, they feel bad about it the first time, but then the second time, they don't necessarily feel that bad. And then eventually there comes a point where the heart is so hard that a person doesn't even feel bad doing something wrong. So Soma Casa Kulu buco member Daedalic, your hearts became hard after that. Now, a question arises that what does it mean
by the hardness of the heart? You see, hardness of the heart is when softness, compassion and humility are gone from the heart, okay? A person does not have compassion for others, and a person does not have humility, a person does not have empathy. A person doesn't care basically. Okay. And the result of the hardness of the heart is that a person is not affected by any moment Allah, any admonition any warning. Okay, so no matter who says no matter who advises no matter what advice is given a person doesn't respond, they just don't care. They lose the ability to be affected by anything. And may Allah subhanaw taala protect us from being so desensitized. So some Mufasa Kulu
buco member the VALIC. Now in the Bible also this concept is actually mentioned, we learned in the book of Zechariah, which is basically what is attributed to prophets occurred era his Salaam in chapter seven, verse eight to 14, it says, And the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah This is what the Lord Almighty has said, administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another, Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor, do not plot evil against each other. So the Bani Israel are given certain instructions over here, but they refused to pay attention. stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard
as flint. Any Flint is a kind of a stone, I guess you need their made their hearts as hard as flint, and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his spirit to the earlier prophets. And so the Lord Almighty was very angry. So this concept is in the Bible as well. And what is understood is that the hardness of the heart is that a person does not listen to the words of ALLAH, a person does not pay attention to any verse, any admonition, they're unaffected by it. And this results in earning the anger of Allah. So some of casette coloboma member the Dalek for here calendula so they are like stones, or stuff it Allah. Now here, the hardness of the heart is
being explained through something tangible, okay, that your hearts are like stones. And notice how stones have been mentioned in comparison. Because if you think about it, any other material even if it's, you know, metal, iron. Yes, it's extremely hard, all right. But when it's exposed to fire, what happens it melts, right? When it's exposed to extreme temperatures, you can mold it, you can change it, you can break it up. But when it comes to stones, stones do not melt. Okay, you can only break them. In fact, stones are actually used as fuel. Okay? We learn even in * that we're cool. Do have NASA will Hijra the fuel of * is people and stones. So hedgehog, are basically extremely
hard. Any you cannot melt it. You can only break it. So your hearts are like stones. Oh, I shut Ducasse coursework, or even more intense in hardness any they're even harder than stones. And what is meant by over here is that oh gives the meaning of rather, meaning. Your hearts are not actually hard like stones. They are even harder than stones. They're worse than stones. And some have said that oh over here gives the meaning of Tanweer of variation meaning some of you, your hearts are hard like stones. And some of you your hearts are even harder than stones. They are impermeable. They are not affected by anything. They are deeply engrossed in
Same filled with arrogance and stubbornness and void of any faith in Allah or any fear of Allah. So for here Kal hijab Marathi Oh, Usha dukkha, Sua, or they are even harder than stones. And then Allah subhanaw taala mentions different types of stones, or rather the goodness which is found in stones. Because you see earlier it was said that your hearts are hard like stones, but then it is said no, they're even harder, they're even worse because stones, you know, they still have some goodness in them, but your hearts there are void of any good. So when it comes to stones, Allah subhanaw taala mentions three types of stones over here, the first one in the mineral hija allottee lemma at the
federal mineral unharmed. And indeed, among the stones are surely that which, you know, they're such that rivers gush forth from them. Okay. And I mentioned to you, you know, just think about how a flood comes through, right? That it breaks, whatever is in its way. So you could have the hardest of stones, the biggest sometimes, you know, you see images of literally mountains collapsing, huge buildings collapsing, so they don't stay standing before the water, lemme get the fuck gentlemen hold and hug, they break and rivers gush forth from those rocks. Okay? And what happens when all of this water flows out? You know, this water turns into streams, rivers, sometimes waterfall, and what
happens is that the water reaches the people, okay, the water goes to people, and rivers and streams, you know, they're used for irrigation, you know, this is freshwater. It's so beneficial to people. The second type, we're in the main her lemma, your Shaco. And then there are other rocks which are such that they split your Shaco. And then what happens via Holderman Holmer. A little bit of water comes out of it, because the water comes out of it and it just collects over there. So think of springs, okay? The first is what rivers and streams are gushing forth. The second what's happening, there is only a spring of water, right? There's just a little bit of water that's
collected. But even that is beneficial, right? Because the water that has collected now people can come there and take water and benefit from it. What's happening in the first water is reaching people All right, what's happening in the second people have to go to the water for Yeah, who do you mean Holmer and then we're in the men had the third type and indeed among them lemma Yeah, bitumen Kashi Attila is surely that which falls down from the fear of Allah, Allahu Akbar, any there are some stones which you know, no water is coming through. No rivers are coming through no spring nothing. No goodness for people is coming. But at least the stones fall they move they break away
they fall from the fear of Allah. At least they have this much goodness and Lemma yet butum in Hershey Attila and he this is something that's mentioned in other places in the Quran as well. For example, in Surah hasher I in number 21 Allah subhanaw taala mentions Lo and Zelle. Now how the Quran Allah jobelan If we had revealed this Quran on a mountain, Laurel ADA who has Sharon, you would have seen that mountain humbling in lowering itself coming down basically, and muda sadirah minha Shatila breaking apart from the fear of Allah, any that massive huge mountain what would happen to it, it would break it would crumble out of the fear of Allah. Any even though a rock any a
stone if you think about it, it appears to be something so lifeless, something so lifeless, any if you have, you know, mud or clay or dirt somewhere, you can benefit from it somehow. You can, you know, water it, you can add more fertilizer to it. You can, you know, put seeds in it, you can grow something out of it. But when it comes to rocks, you know that you can't exactly extract something out of it. You can maybe break the rocks and you can maybe assemble them. You can make a wall out of them, but you cannot grow something out of it. All right. So it appears to be something so lifeless, and something so hard and cold and dry. Right? It's not soft. It's not soft on your feet. If you've
ever been to a beach where you know it's all pebbles and rocks. It's difficult to walk, right It hurts to walk you don't have balance. And if you're not wearing proper shoes, your feet are going to hurt so they're not easy to work with, but still be stones have some goodness in them that
they move from the fear of Allah. They don't stand stubborn before Allah. They fall from the fear of Allah. Right we learned in Subtle Art off i a 143, also about Musa alayhis salam, that when he came for his appointment and his Lord spoke to him mozarella he said I'm requested that Allah be any unsold a lake that Oh my Lord, show me I want to see you. Because mozarella SLM could hear Allah, Allah subhanaw taala blessed him with this privilege that Allah subhanaw taala spoke to him directly. Now imagine, Mozart is Salam in he wanted to see Allah this is out of extreme love. So Allah subhanaw taala told him that length Ronnie, you will never be able to see me because in this
world, we don't have that capacity, right? In the hereafter. Allah subhanaw taala will give his chosen servants the ability, the privilege of seeing him and this is something that we should ask Allah subhanaw taala for what else who can lead that and nobody Allah will check that Oh Allah, I ask you, I beg you for the pleasure of seeing you. Alright, so this is a privilege that is reserved for the hereafter for the people of paradise. So Musa listen, I was told that length Torani but then Allah subhanaw taala look at how honorable Musa alayhis salam was before Allah that Allah azza wa jal said well, Kenyans are eligible. Look at the mountain. Okay, look towards the mountain for in
his Takahama Khanna who fuss over Torani if the mountain is able to stay in its place, then you will be able to see me. Okay, what happened Philomath Gela Obul in Germany when Allah subhanaw taala casts some of his light on the mountain, Jarl who the cat the mountain became crumbled. The Mahara Musa Sarika and Lusardi Salam fell unconscious, any the mountain could not bear the slight note of Allah even. So, this is the reality of stones, that the biggest of them the hardest of them also, they fall they break from the fear of Allah, but the hard hearts, any nothing can move them, nothing can change them, nothing can affect them. May Allah subhanaw taala protect us from such hardness,
that, you know, sometimes you see this, that there are people whose family is begging them, you know, please don't do this. Please listen to us, please be with us. Right? Please don't commit these crimes. Please don't do this, please don't do that. But they're unaffected, unaffected by the tears of the mother, by the pleas of the wife. And then there are people who, you know when they commit oppression against people, or stuff that Allah so hard that they will shoot a children, that they will drag children they will criminalize children, they will treat children like adults, they will put them in prison, they will torture children, any These are children who should not even be living
such lives any children deserve love and compassion, but children are being shot at and what kind of hardness is this? So, here the hardness of the heart is mentioned. And it is clarified that even the stones which are compared to you know, this hardness, even these stones have something good, but the human heart when that becomes hard, it is worse, warm Allahu belhar feeling or Mirtha or maroon. And Allah is not at all unaware about what you all do any. When a person's heart is hard, then this means that they're disobeying Allah, this means that they don't hesitate committing any kind of crime, right against a law against people and then they will justify it. They will use lies to cover
their crimes, they will shed crocodile tears to present themselves as innocent, any whatever they're doing. Allah subhanaw taala says Allah is not unaware of what you're doing. Allah knows about your actions. Allah knows about your crimes, Allah knows about your disobedience. Allah knows about your stubbornness, so you can hide from people you can fool them, but you cannot hide from Allah, everything you're doing is being recorded and this is a threat, this is a threat, that there is severe consequences for such criminal behavior. Now, one thing I want to clarify over here is that the hardness of the heart is different from firmness, okay, firmness and strength is something good,
okay. Firmness and strength is what that you are able to have courage in difficult situations, right? That you do not, you know, succumb, you do not quit. You do not become weak before a challenge, right? This strength and firmness is good. And it's
necessary resolve determination, these are praiseworthy characteristics, but hardness of the heart is something unhealthy, that is something detrimental because hardness of the heart is that a person has no mercy. When dealing with others, a person has no compassion, no empathy, right? No regard for people no regard for the fact that Allah is watching any that is completely different. Okay? When a person is firm, and they have courage, they have firm resolve, you cannot easily you know, sway them from what they believe that is good, right? Because such people really need to be convinced, alright, you really need to bring solid, proof, solid argument in order to change their mind. And
that, you know, to an extent is healthy, because if you don't have this quality, then that means you're just going to follow anyone, you're just going to be people pleasing all the time. You're not your own person. Right. But stubbornness and hardness of the heart is that you don't care about what Allah has revealed. You don't care about what affecting other people, and that is dangerous. And you know, these days, people confuse being yourself with hardness of the heart. They think that they're being themselves, they're living their truth, you know, but in reality, they're allowing their hearts to be hard. Why? Because if they're living their truth, and that means that they're openly
disobeying the commands of Allah, and they don't feel bad about it, then this is something very dangerous, they think that they're being very confident, right? That the fear of people does not affect them the fear of, you know, public opinion or even what their parents say, or what religion says does not affect them. Okay? So they think they're being very confident, this is not confidence, this is hardness of the heart. Okay, we need to be able to differentiate between the two. Confidence does not mean that a person has no hesitation and disobeying Allah, this is hardness of the heart. Now we learn in a hadith that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that certainly amongst
the people of the earth are some who are Allah's vessels, and the vessels of your Lord are the hearts of his righteous servants. And the most beloved to him. Amongst them are those who are kind and gentle, those who are soft. So the hearts that are soft, that have compassion and care for others that are lenient and gentle with others, such hearts, Allah subhanaw taala loves them. So remember this, Allah loves the soft heart. All right. Now the question is, how is it that the heart becomes hard? We have learned in this idea that when a person does not pay attention to does not learn from the signs of Allah, this is something that hardens the heart. When a person disobeyed
Allah when a person breaks the covenant with Allah, this is also something that hardens the heart. So essentially, what is it then it is disobedience to Allah, right, which hardens the heart. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that do not speak a lot without mentioning Allah. Okay? Why? Because a lot of words without mentioning Allah produce hardness of the heart. Meaning when a person talks too much and they don't remember Allah, then what will happen, this will cause their heart to become hard. Because when you're talking too much and you're not remembering Allah, there will come a point where you know, you will say things which are inappropriate, you know, where you
will enter into conversations which are sinful, right. So excessiveness of such conversation leads to what the hardness of the heart, we also learn about how the rhythm I say that eating excessively, sleeping excessively, talking excessively or always socializing with people, these are things that can harden the heart, where you don't allow yourself that solitude where you can reflect on yourself where you can connect with Allah subhanaw taala, where you don't allow yourself the chance to recite the Quran because you've been too busy talking, or because you've been eating and a lot of your time and attention resources have been going into eating, you know, first spending hours watching
different recipes, figuring out what to cook, how to cook, and then purchasing the perfect ingredients and then you know, assembling everything together the whole day is gone into what into serving the body into pursuing desires, sleeping excessively so that a person is missing prayer or that a person is not, you know, fulfilling their obligations. This is also something that hardens the heart. So disobedience to Allah for sure. And secondly, we see over here excessive indulgence.
In desires or pursuing one's desires, this is also something that distances a person from Allah, and it hardens the heart. Okay. But another question is that how do you soften the heart. So for example, if you feel that you doing something wrong does not bother you, or when you listen to the Quran, it doesn't really affect you, or that you don't feel any hesitation in openly disobeying Allah. And each one of us, you know, if we're honest with ourselves, we will recognize these things in ourselves. So if we find this in ourselves, and even if we don't, how do you soften the heart because even if our heart is soft, we want it to be softer, right? Because the softness of the heart
is something that Allah soprano targeted loves. So how do you soften the heart? There's two ways. First, is that you reflect on a pony. And the second is that you spend time with Aya chittery. What are I at Coney, Ayat, Coney are the signs within the creation, okay? tangible things that we can witness that remind us of the power of Allah subhanaw taala that make us more conscious of Allah, that make us have more fear of Allah that make us have more love for Allah subhanaw taala because you see, they were shown the dead man come to life, so that they would understand so that their hearts would soften. Right? So seeing eye at Coney. Okay, reflecting on them, noticing them, seeing
them spending time in nature, reflecting over these things. This is something that softens the heart. You know, for example, we hear in the news, a storm here or heatwave there a fire here and threat or risk of fire lightning and things like that. And we just take that as a piece of news and we move on, spend a few moments and seek ALLAH subhanaw taala us protection, seek ALLAH subhanaw taala is forgiveness. Right? When you hear about death, you know, someone has died or someone has fallen ill or someone has lost a loved one someone has lost their job, you know, different events in our life or in the lives of other people don't just, you know, move on from them, any acknowledge
them, notice them reflect on them. And then even within the creation, he spent almost the entire day indoors, and were completely disconnected from nature. And this was very unhealthy. We need to look at the sky we need to look at the grass we need to feel the rain we need to feel the wind we need to pay attention to the sound of the thunder. Alright, notice these things because they will constantly remind you of the greatness of Allah subhanaw taala and this is what keeps the heart alive. It keeps the heart soft. Okay. Secondly, connecting with is Chetry. And these are verses that Allah subhanaw taala has revealed, listening to the Quran reflecting over the Quran, in alerting it, reciting it.
These things also soften the heart. So for example, insulinoma ADA is number 83 Allah subhanaw taala mentions what either semi Ummah on Zillow Illa Rasul Tara Are you know whom to feel Domina Denbury when they hear what has been revealed to the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam meaning when they hear the Quran, you see their eyes overflowing with tears, any This is a result of the softening of the heart that when they hear the Quran, it impacts their heart it melt their heart, it brings tears to their eyes. So connect with the Quran. Okay, and you will notice that the first thing that I mentioned connecting with Ayat Kony any when you look at massive clouds in the sky and you look at a
beautiful rainbow or you look at the expanse of the Earth around you, you see running water you feel the wind, any what kind of words come out of your mouth you sit at home that Allah is a Subhan Allah you say Masha Allah, Allahu Akbar. Alright, so instantly you do the color of Allah, you connect with Allah. And this is what will keep your heart soft, it will make it even softer. Right? So I add Kony, the signs within the creation and I add Shari, any the revealed iets revelation, okay. So the connecting with them is something that will soften the heart. Now, here, when Allah subhanaw taala mentions that, you know, different types of rocks, the different types of stones, they have good in
them. We see that there are people who are like that as well, that there are people who, you know, once upon a time, very hard, very stubborn, very disbelieving even, for example, we learned about how or model de la Mourinho he went out to kill the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam but what happened then Allah subhanaw taala died
Did him write his heart, he broke in the sense that the hardness inside just shattered, right when he heard the Quran when he allowed himself to connect with the Quran. And what happened when he believed, literally reverse gushed forth, so much good came out of him. So this gives us hope that people can change, right? The people who can be very hard, they can change people who are very unresponsive, or it seems like they'll never change they can. We don't know how a person might change in the future. Right? So think about how there was a time when the Muslims were afraid of or model de la Mourinho. And then there came a time when or model de la Horne who was a Muslim, and he
became a mural, meaning the leader of the believers, he became the Khalifa. So he was the strength of Muslims. Because you see, sometimes there's somebody in our family, you know, we talk to them, we advise them, or we try to, you know, change their heart, we try to advise them, but they never listen. Right? You tell them you know, you should pray. It's time for salon, they don't care, they don't respond, do not despair, do not give up hope. Because hearts can change. Right? So there are some people whose hearts are very hard like stones, but then an event happens in their life, something happens. So they become you know, of those people who were went to the Cabal and for hada,
that who were once misguided and Allah subhanaw taala guided them. So don't despair. Don't give up hope. And you will hear stories of people whose lives you know, they become completely transformed how they were so deep in sin, and how Allah subhanaw taala brought them out, and so much good is coming from them. And then we have you know, some other people who, yes, they were hard once upon a time and Allah subhanaw taala guided them. And, you know, some good came out of them, maybe not rivers and streams, but at least a spring of water, a little bit of good, something good came of them. And then there are other people like the third type of rocks, who at least show humility,
whose stubbornness whose arrogance, you know, it breaks, so they become humble before Allah. So what do we learn from this is many, many lessons. The first, the most important thing is that we need to care about our hearts, we need to pay attention to the state of our heart, because remember, the heart is the most important part of your being. Okay, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is good than the entire body is good. And if it is bad, then the entire body goes corrupt, because the heart is the leader, it is the boss, right? Some Sahaba compared the heart to a kink to Emilich right. And the rest of the body is
basically the armies the force is off this king. So the king rules, whatever the heart wants, the rest of the body follows. So may Allah subhanaw taala guide our hearts may Allah subhanaw taala soften our hearts and may Allah subhanaw taala protect our hearts from becoming hard. And we should pray for our hearts that may Allah subhanaw taala adorn our heart with faith. Right. May Allah subhanaw taala strengthen it with Eman May Allah subhanaw taala reform it and there's a number of doors and these doors can be found in many books. So we should pray for the softness for the health of our hearts.