Yasir Qadhi – The Stories of The Prophets #20 – The Story of Adam Pt. 8 Adam as ‘khalifah’
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Santa Monica Morocco to Lahore Barakatuh and hamdulillah salat wa salam ala rasulillah early he was happy woman while I'm about So, we are continuing our story of Adam alayhis salaam and as I have explained my methodology that I do plan to take my time and go into all of these different tangents and how I did it I think the feedback so far has been very good A lot of you are very appreciative. There are some voices that they want a shorter quick condensed version as I have said
Feel free to take my material inshallah, whenever Allah Allah was I finish it and then extract from it you know smaller you know smaller segments for other different audiences. But I feel that insha Allah This is something that needs to be done where a very very thorough and comprehensive analysis is done and Alhamdulillah there is no time limit on this if Allah wills we will continue and if Allah wills then for whatever reason is not going to happen then Allah will always take place So today, we will inshallah who to actually pause at one verse that is very important in the creation of Adam it his Salaam and it is sort of Baccarat verse 30. So today we'll be in sha Allah and
analysis and SFC of this very, very crucial is what is this if Allah subhana wa tada says, hold on? Are we to be human? Are shaytani r Rajim? Bismillah him watchman ilahi What is the point out I'm born callin Mel EKG in Ninja fill out all the honey, all attach your annual fee. You've said ofI How is FICO? deema Well, yes, we could deema I wanna hear no, no, sir be fob handicar one more called de souillac. All in any.
JOHN moon. The translation of this verse is that recall when your Lord said to the angels, I'm going to place a leaf on Earth. I'm gonna leave it untranslated for now. They said, the angels will you place on it, someone who will spread corruption. You've seen Sophia and shed blood? Yes, you could demand yet here we are glorifying your praises and proclaiming Your Holiness. Allah responded, I know what you do not know. So this verse is a key verse in the creation story. And what is very interesting to note is that while the story of Adam occurs more than half a dozen times in the Quran, and Allah subhanho wa Taala mentions key facts multiple times. For example, the story of the
bowing down of the angels to the to the to Adam is literally mentioned over half a dozen times.
This incident of Allah announcing that Adam is a Khalifa that Allah is placing on this earth a Khalifa and that Allah is making a grand proclamation in the celestial heavens, and that all of the angels are hearing the speech of Allah and Allah is making this announcement that I am placing a hottie found earth it only occurs once in the entire Oran so it's a very important point therefore to make a note that what exactly is this verse and what can we derive from this verse? And notice as well in Ninja I don't fill out the in the journal not the Arabic word but another phrasing that might be possible in this geography. I am about to make I'm going to make no jargon it's already
been done. It's done and and decreed is an established fact that I have placed I am placing I'm placing it is now a an act that has been done in decreed and it is taking place in New Jersey don't fall out of the halifa. And what is especially interesting is that this announcement, this proclamation, it is taking place and Adams body is still up in the heaven, in all likelihood. Now we are not 100% certain because we don't know when was this announcement made was it made before the rule was blown into Adam which is what it appears to be the case or was it made right when the
Who was born into Adam, which might be an interpretation, but whichever one you follow at this stage, Adam is clearly up there. And alive then says to the angels bow down to other we're going to come to that inshallah in a future week. So the announcement that Adam is being placed as a halifa on earth is being made, while Adam is actually not on the earth, while Adam is still in the heavens. And when Adam is being asked to enter Jenna in a little while, as we will come to, and therefore this also indicates, and this is well know that Allah did not create Adam for jedna that Adams role and the progeny of Adam, it was decreed even before the Lord was blown, in that you shall be on
earth, and his place and the place of his progeny was known even to the angels even before the fall. Even before the expulsion. The angels were told that Adam and his progeny are going to be on this earth. Also, what is the purpose of this proclamation?
hamdulillah The purpose of this proclamation is to honor Adam and the children of Adam. As far as we are aware, no other entity, no other creation has been honored by such a grand Proclamation. Allah subhanho wa Taala himself announcing to the angels, Allah xojo, proclaiming to the most illustrious of his creation at the time, at the time, the angels occupy the highest rank, both physically and spiritually. And Allah says to them, I am creating a halifa on this earth. So Allah azza wa jal is honoring us by announcing to the most honorable creation that hey, there is now some competition for you in one sense, and of course, later on, they will be told to prostrate to indicate that Adam has
superiority over them. So Allah subhana wa tada has honored the children of Adam in many different ways. Allah is honored Adam and through Adam, the children of Adam, as Allah says, what are the Quran, Benny Adam, we have honored the children of Adam. So this is yet another honor. Now in Ninja I don't fill out all the I am placing on this earth. It is something that is as we said, the Earth is going to be the permanent abode of the children of Adam when they are alive, obviously in the next life, that is something else fell out of the halifa. Okay, now we are going to pause here for quite a while and meander through this is now a very deep philosophical slash spiritual slash
political verse. What does it mean, in Ninja I don't fall out of the Khalifa. And here, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave your preconceived notions at the door, as you walk into this new territory, pretend you had never heard any interpretation. One of our problems, Gen Muslims, and I speak now in sha Allah, hoping that you are becoming students of knowledge, you are increasing your awareness, you're raising the bar of Islamic knowledge. One of the problems is that when we hear one interpretation, or when we understand a verse in a particular manner, then it is as if somebody has put glasses on us. And we see the whole world through those glasses. And we assume and make
presumptions about everything based upon an interpretation that was taught to us. And so for many of us, when we read this verse, only one interpretation comes to mind. And it is but one, I'm asking you to leave that interpretation out. And imagine you have no idea what this verse means. Let's turn to the books of tafsir. Allah has blessed us with a tradition that spans every geographic region, over 14 centuries of aroma and we realize that they have left us a rich heritage. So let us see let us mine from their amazing works and let us call from their experiences and the sum total of their knowledge and see what is the meaning of califa here. And if we do this, let us begin first and
foremost with the linguistic meaning halifa comes from Haifa, and Hala for means to stand in the place of something else. Colorful means to stand where something else was standing. And this is a very clear Quranic usage. So the Malian verse 59 for holla FM imbibed the hymn Hello phone. So holla FM embody him Hello phone. A generation came after them. This is now a generation came after them. There was a generation and then an edge another generation came and in sort of for Converse 62 well hola de Jilin later when the Hara Hill fatten. He has made the night and the day he'll refer what is
For me in here, after every night comes a day after everyday comes the night, the one is standing where the other use to stand. This is what halifa actually means. And from this connotation, we get the meaning of to be behind somebody because health is also a term, a preposition that means behind because when you are behind somebody, that person is blocking you, you're about to take his place. So when you're behind somebody, this is called Hello. So from this notion of replacement from this notion of taking over, we also get that famous Hadith about fasting la hailu food thermos saw me that the remnants of the breath of the person who is fasting is more beloved to Allah subhana wa
Tada This means the remains of the mouth of the breath that is in the mouth, it is called halluf because it is what is remaining of the mouth that is going to be expelled out. So this is the technical meaning of high def is to stand in the place of something now, when Allah azza wa jal uses it in this verse, what does it mean? Well, Allah says in Surah Baqarah, verse 30, in the geography of the Khalifa, and he also says, inserted an arm, verse 165, well, who will Lady gyla come holla if
and he has made you holla, if witches plural, of halifa, he has made you holla if of this earth, water for our console, coordinadora chat, and he has elevated some of you in ranks over others, so that he can test you with what he has given you. So he has made you holla, if I feel out of the, and he has raised some of you above others in ranks, this is another verse that talks about her life of a lot. And as soon as the normal verse 62, Allah says, a mu g, Boone, macpaw. We actually for Su, while you were joking Hola. Who else is there who responds to the dua of the one in distress, who else is there who relieves the affliction, and who has made you wholly on this earth who has made
you successors on this earth? So Allah mentions the notion of halifa of this earth and Holy Father of mankind, and at least three gentlemen in at least three verses. The first is sort of bacara verse 30, the second assert that an arm verse 165, and the third is written numbered, verse 62, it is imperative that we look at all of these verses to really understand what is the meaning of halifa. And if you call through the books of tafsir, it is possible to broadly categorize interpretations into three broad categories. The first two of them, frankly, are of the same genre. And I was wondering when I made these notes, I was wondering to actually make into two categories. And then I
thought, you know what, let us be pedantic and make it into three, but I have to say, I could have done one, a one B and two, and it would have been just as valid, but you know, you get the point, as we will talk about now. So what is the first interpretation, the first interpretation, which seems to be a majority interpretation of early scholars of Tafseer, is that the halifa here in New Jersey, all the halifa is that Allah subhana wa Taala is mentioning that mankind is now succeeding something else that was on Earth. Okay, so the honey for here is that there's something on earth, and Allah is saying, I'm now creating another creation, that is going to succeed that is going to take over from
a creation that was already here. And this is something that is mentioned in quite a number of especially early tafsir. An early scholars of grammar and early scholars of philology and history, they mentioned this. So for example, the famous Al fahidi, who dies 170 hatred that is very early on alpha he says al Khalifa, and this is a book of language, a book of he has a mini dictionary if you like a dictionary, Al Khalifa, he said many stocks left.
Many stock left mecanim and cobbler who, the one who took over the place of the one before him, and the one who stands in the place of the one who was before him. And then he says, and the gin used to inhabit this earth, and then Allah azza wa jal made Adam and his children, the halifa of them, that they shall now inhabit this earth. And this is the meaning of Allah statement in the jar. I don't fill out the Khalifa. And Allah says this is still a pharaoh Hedy, well who already gyla come holla if allowed, meaning you keep on inheriting the earth, one after the other. So the first is that humans are succeeding another creation before them and this is also
What even more qualitative insert a man who died 150 hegira. The earliest printed suit that we have is from Makati live in Sudan. And there's a long discussion about him, which is beyond the scope of this class, but it is an early tafsir. And the discussion is about his knowledge and how was he a storyteller? Was he a scholar as the discussion, but that is beyond the scope. The point is, regardless of what he was, his Tafseer represents a window into very, very early discussion. How academic is it? Is the controversy? Was he just a storyteller? Or was he an actual scholar, even if he's a storyteller, you're getting a glimpse into an early interpretation of the Koran, and the CMO
cartoon cartoons when a man he also mentions this notion that Adam took over from the jinn before him another early seed of a summer on the who died 300 something hedgerow that have serious summer candy abou later summer candy also says the same thing, in fact, ignore some comments. The majority of scholars of the past and present claim that are dumb was made to succeed whoever was before him on Earth. Dumb was made to succeed whoever was before him on this earth. So this interpretation in the DJI don't fall out of the halifa. It might be novel to the ears of many of you, but it is in fact, the predominant interpretation. There is no notion of political vice Geron see because again,
the common way that we understand this verse, especially in our times, is that man is God's vice chairman on earth, and I'm going to come to this opinion, it's there, people have said it, but we should understand it is but one opinion, and the majority opinion is in contrast to this. So the majority opinion, as we said, is that halifa here means that Adam and the children of Adam are going to be taking over are going to be taking over from a previous entity, a previous group. Now, who is that previous group? Who is the previous group? Well, one opinion is that it was the angels themselves that there were angels that were inhabiting this earth. And Allah said, Okay, now you
shall go everywhere, and now the earth is going to breed primarily for bunny Adam, a more predominant opinion is that there were jinn who are in charge of this earth that were jinn that were created before Adam, no, this is something we know. And the jinn were predominantly on this earth. And Eliza just said, I am now creating a new creation that shall supersede the jinn that they shall take over from the gin. So this is another interpretation, the gin, there is a yet another interpretation, which is actually very, very interesting, even though it is a small minority opinion. And that is that, and this is reported from a banner model, and from Qatada. And we find it
in a very, very few books of xfc that there were creatures cut out
that were existing on this earth. And there are different names given to them. And hen and Albin are given these are found in our, in our books, right, and hidden nl bean. And these creatures did much evil and they killed and they cause mayhem. And so Allah subhanho wa Taala said to the angels that hey, I am creating a new creation, and this creation is Adam and Benny Adam, and they shall take over from the hidden and the bin. And we do not have any Hadith that mentions these interesting creatures. This is not a hadith rather, these are legends that are found in our history books, and in some of the Tabby rune, and Sahaba even attributed to them that they said this, even though our
DVD even though why did he even Adela DD who died 730 600 he has a book of history called contadora. And he says edgemarc 133 that the people who write history have unanimously agreed now he says unanimously agreed, but he says the historians This is not the scholars of Tafseer This is not scholars of you know Quran and Hadith This is just, you know, basically the storytellers are the historians they say that before Allah created Adam, there were other creations of them are the hen and the bin and the trim and the rim. This is what he's saying, Don't look at me. I'm just quoting what he says okay. And these creations they create, they caused havoc on this earth. And then Allah
subhanho wa Taala sent the angels to get rid of them and to take them to a faraway place but we don't know anything about their creation. We don't know anything about their realities. But the The only thing we know is that they are not
spiritual beings but rather physical ones. That is because they would shed blood. We know this because the angels asked at the geographia menoufia that the angel said, Where's Fukushima? They're going to shed blood. And so the angels knew that this creation sheds blood. So this author in the way that he says this, these creations, the hint, the been the theme, the rim, he just calls them these names, that clearly, these are creations that have blood flowing in them. And they have actual bodies. They're not like spiritual entities and quote, and even hedger, and one of his books of language. He says a hen, and Albin are two tribes that used to exist before the creation of Adam. As
it is said female you call meaning I don't know. I'm just telling you this what I've heard a hen and l been or two creations that existed before the coming of Adam. Now.
This is, of course, extremely interesting and fascinating. We shall come back to this point. In a future lecture. Allah knows when whichever number that's going to be I'm taking my time and dissecting it bit by bit. But of course, why is this fascinating? Because we know for a fact, we know for a fact, biological fact, scientific fact. It is undeniable to anybody who understands what biology and science is, is that there were creations before human beings before Homo sapiens. There's Homo habilis, there's homo. Rudolph *. There's Homo erectus. There's homo antecessor. There's Homo heidelbergensis. All of these, you know, there's homo flora, Flora sciences. There's
homeowner yonder. Thal says the neandertals, right. And then recently, there's another species Homo naledi. It is called. So there's all of these different types of sub genres of creation. And they are humanoid, but they're not humans. They are pre homosapien, and they're not completely like us, and yet, they are there. So can it be? Can it be that the hen and the bean and the rain metal team and although these that are being mentioned are the remnants of the knowledge of those entities? And if that is the case, then that really brings about an interesting, an interesting reality of how do we understand evolution will come to evolution? Or inshallah I have my clear talk. inshallah, that's
going to be said, when we get to that topic, and it's a very important topic, because we do have to discuss the very, very awkward reality of our existence on this earth, clearly being at least 100 if not 200, if not more than that. 100,000 years old, in terms of us, Homo sapiens, and these other entities, you know, Homo habilis and others, they go back maybe a million years, okay, homeboy Erectus, they go back so much longer, so much longer. Lucy, one of the most anxious discover words that we're talking about, maybe more than a million years, you know, this is not homosapien, but others. So can it be that these references that we find in our books of tafsir apply to those
ancient species of humanoids who are not actually human? Interesting question, we'll come back to this and discuss it when we get there. Right now we're still talking about in the geography or the halifa. But before we move on, so one interpretation, bunny Adam, is the halifa to these entities. Okay. Now, by the way, our scholars have tafsir who said this, they're not mentioning Neanderthals, they're not mentioning Homo habilis. They're mentioned the hidden they've been in the plane and all of these things, and I am saying this is from me, take it or leave it or throw it out the window. I am saying, in reality, what our earliest scholars are saying fits in perfectly with what we know of
modern science. And it is possible to extrapolate from what they said and to say that Bernie Adam Homo sapiens, Allah created them to take over the world from these other species. And the angels recognized that those species are not the best species because they're fighting and they're killing and they're causing mayhem and wreaking havoc and the angels recognize that bunny Adam is the similar type as them and so that's why they asked Allah Why would you create the same type of species that's going to go and do all of the killing and all of that mayhem and murder that these other species are doing? So this is the first interpretation and under it as I said, Who are the
bunny Adam taking over? If not the angels if not the jinn then the bin and the hen and the theme all of these things can be mentioned okay. So that is the first opinion in Ninja out of out of the halifa j yet okay, let us move on. The second opinion in the journal for all these califa is Allah describing a characteristic of this new
Creation. That is not something the angels are familiar with. So now we have to scrap like imagine the first opinion doesn't really exist. And that's why I put it number two, by the way, because in reality, there is a market difference even though as I'll explain, one and two are very similar. I'll explain why in a while. But let's ignore all of point number one, this could get to another opinion in the Java or the califa. Allah is describing to the angels, a new creation, that is going to be totally different from what the angels understand as being life as being existence. Why? Because the angels, the angels do not procreate. They don't die. And then you know, a new generation
comes the same angel that has worshiped Allah since the beginning of time. shall worship continue worshiping until the trumpet is blown. The angels do not have children. This the angels do not it's literally one batch of angels, literally one batch Now, of course, that batches beyond our, you know, we can't even comprehend one Yeah, lembu Rebecca Illa, who we cannot even count that number, but the angels are not being constantly recreated a new batch comes under Nope, they are the same stagnant batch. And Allah is saying, I am going to create a creation that is totally different from you guys, it shall self generate, it shall replicate, it shall keep on changing halifa one
generation will succeed another generation. So in this
interpretation, in the jargon for the califa becomes a descriptive clause of what this creation is the most unique difference between the angels, and between bunny Adam, that the buddy Adam, keep on replicating and keep on there every every few decades you look every few centuries, you look the same people that you knew not a single one is alive, you have a whole different group. That's what halifa means. And this is an opinion that has been attributed to him. And Abbas even was rude to Hassan al basri. Even Kathir mentions it alma wardy adopts it. And so this interpretation is saying that Allah subhana wa tada is mentioning the characteristic of replication, the characteristic of
constant substitution, the unique characteristic that if you take a snapshot of mankind, like the Prophet systems that had it, this is my body. He walked out on one night amongst the Saba and he goes, do you see this night of his beautiful night the stars were where you can see all the stars do you see this night of yours and what's happening he said 100 years from now, not to single one of you on Earth, she'll still be alive. 100 years from now, a whole new batch will come in Ninja are the study for this is what it means. And this meaning it fits perfectly with the other two verses in the Quran that talk about halifa man being halifa. So Sunita, and I'm 165 Well, who will let the
child come holla he fell out of the water for about an hour confocal barkindo. Raja is talking about the differences between the people, it's talking about the fact that Allah has now caused you to come, you are now in charge before your parents were in charge. Now you are in charge. And not all of you are the same. Some of you have these talents. Others have those talents. So sort of an arm 165 seems to be in accordance with this interpretation. Now why did I say one and two are similar, they're not the same. I was thinking, as I said, to put them are the one a one B or number one, number two.
And I decided to go with two different options because it's just easier for us to understand. I'm saying in reality, one and two are of the same camp because the notion of califa in both of them is some type of replacement, either the replacement of bunu Adam from the previous life forms, or the replacement of every generation within bunu Adam. Now here's the point. Opinion one and opinion two are not contradictory. You can combine them and say mankind as a whole was the halifa to the previous life forms, and then within themselves they shall be halifa to each other and every generation will be to * FM embody him holophone a generation came after them a donor shall come
after them till como la Hama, cassava. Welcome maka septum. That's what halifa means. And these two opinions are not contradictory at all. The first generation of man replaced the Neanderthals replaced the previous life forms. That's it, they're gone. And then every subsequent generation replaces the one before it. So in reality, opinion one and opinion two can be put together to form a harmonious full position. And we can factually state that this is the majority position one and two put together. Meaning Yeah, and if you if you take those who said category one, those who said category to put them together
That's basically the vast majority of the scholars of the sea, and the scholars of loja. That's how they understood in the journal for the ld califa. And that is a radically different notion than the way that the verse has been presented to us. Now, how has the verse been presented to us? Well, let us now go to position three. And within position three, there are many, many nuances and camps. It's not just one opinion. And this is another point that
with humility, and respect, inshallah, you're not going to hear too many people say, people lump all of this together. And in reality, if you read that series, which I have done for the preparing for this lecture, you take a deep dive into who says, what, in reality, it's not fair to lump all of these people together, each one is coming with a slightly different nuance. And we can say, generically, category three, okay, but within category three, I don't think it is fair to put, you know, a quote, to be, for example, and the same count as, for example, Mo duty, or whether whatever, I think that there are clear differences, and that's the position I'm going to hold on to, because
this is, I mean, again, it's my opinion, take it or leave it. So what is categorically I forgot I jumped the gun. What is category three, category three says califa means that mankind will stand in place of a law himself, okay? That Allah is placing man as a vise gerrant basically, that's the term that is used in English literature, as a political ruler. And man's job is to execute the commandments of a law, and to judge between the creation and to implement the laws of Allah, and to manifest the proper servitude or budimir amongst the creation and between the creation. So mankind is acting on behalf of Allah. So this is the term vise gerrant. Now,
a lot of names are put here. And I'll humbly push back and say, it's not fair, as I said, to lump all of these names together, if you read it the first year, and those who held this year are those that others claim held this view. In reality, it seems as if, once again, we have a later position. And we're trying to read in our later position into these roles. And I don't think that is the case. So for example, a call to B mentions an opinion from Ibn Abbas he says that in the Jaguar in the califa, it's only applies to Adam. And that's it not to bunny Adam, that Adam is meant to execute the will of Allah on earth, that to execute the commandments of Alicia say, the shittier of Allah to
be in charge of implementing the shittier on Earth. Above all, we says that this was the job of the prophets of Allah, Adam and Tao would not for all buddy Adam, only for the prophets of Allah. And he gets this from Surah saw the verse 26 surah saw the verse 26, Jada will do in Janaka, hurry fatten fill RB five combine and nurse, oh, that would we have made you a Holly found this earth, so judge between the people. So according to this opinion, halifa is not something that Bernie Adam is capable of, rather, the prophets of Allah are capable of, and not all of mankind. And some of the scholars like Corollas for honey and others, they extrapolate a little bit more. And they said, not
just the prophets, but righteous people, righteous people are halifa, not children of Adam, not mankind has been created to be God's Vice gerrant, but rather the prophets or vice Jarrett, or the righteous of mankind, and this interpretation, it has been ascribed to an even worse through than others. The problem comes if you study with MC, did you notice that a lot of times books written in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth seventh century of the Hydra, they will ascribe these opinions to Sahaba. And they're mutually contradictory. I mean, sometimes you have even material having four different opinions, and they can't all be corrected. This is one of them where we have been through
that, even our bas and others, they're ascribing multiple interpretations to the same verse. So it is said April, Josie mentioned that it was rude and and Mujahid said that this verse applies to man being responsible for applying the laws of a law in their lives and upon others in their creation and manifesting tawheed on earth. And it is mentioned even Kathy and hora Toby. They also mentioned an opinion about this, that from this verse, one can extrapolate the proof that it is necessary to establish
The Caliphate that you should have a caliphate on Earth, in order that there be a judge, a final arbiter for mankind. So, in this sense, one does find the notion it is not unprecedented in the books of Tafseer. It is not unprecedented, that one finds this notion that the righteous or Adam Underwood, or even good amongst mankind, that they have a role and a job of being a halifa. Now, some scholars have pointed out that
this Khalifa is not on behalf of a law, but rather by appointment from a law, that the interpretation of these scholars who claim this and again remember, there's three opinions as we said, one, two, we can say three, so a third opinion is actually a minority and overall, those who claimed generally speaking, that they are saying, a law has given man a status, Allah has given man a responsibility. And that responsibility is that he shall reflect the qualities of the Sharia, implement the laws of Allah subhana wa tada worship Allah in a manner that makes him worthy of being a role model for the other creation. The term Khalifa on Illa Khalifa on behalf of Allah is really
not that common, it is not found a lot in earlier literature, one could say that Allah in this interpretation that Allah has bestowed upon them the hereafter or to be a vice chairman, in a manner that Allah has appointed them, because you see, there is a theological issue when you say, That man is Allah's Khalifa, because halifa is used for the one who is taking charge when the first one has left. And a lot is there, his realm is there, his podra is there is there and Allah does not need let me call him Sheree. cofina molk Allah does not need anyone to do anything. So the notion that man is in charge instead of Allah. It's as if we are removing Allah from the picture and Allah can
never be removed from the picture. So there seems to be a bit of a theological problem to make such a claim. But to say that Allah appointed us with his Quadro and knowledge not in his stead. That's the big difference here, not in his stead, but rather Allah appointed us amongst ourselves, perhaps it can be said that is a classical opinion now, not to get too controversial or change the topic too much.
But the modern twist has come from thinkers who took this verse, and read in very different overtones. Now, the fact that they read in different overtones does not make it wrong. But I'm being again a little bit precise pedantic, and I want you to understand that the thinkers I'm going to mention I have nothing against them to be brutally honest, overall, I admire much of what they have done even though I don't consider myself to be a follower, per se of these thinkers and I respect the contributions, the dedication, in the case of one of them the martyrdom respect them immensely, but I've never you know, consider myself to be a follower of their platform. So I speak as an
outsider who is overall sympathetic I make this disclaimer because some people get very you know, emotional and whatnot and this is the reality when you love somebody of this regard. So I'm speaking as a somebody who admires them, but has not been a part of their their movements and I speak here of the two modern thinkers. I will add mo doody alert him on say, alert hammer. So these two thinkers in particular Modi and Koto, and of course, they are associated with the Jamaat e Islami, the founder of Jamaat e Islami in India, Pakistan. I said what is of course not the founder hasn't been as the founder, but really the primary architect of modern acquire Muslim in the Muslim Brotherhood,
that both of these figures, they wrote commentaries of the Koran, and the both of them, they took this verse in the Java jar, a novel or the Khalifa, in a very different light. Now, again, I'm just telling you what happened at this stage. I'm not saying what they did is right to wrong. The fact that they did it is their opinion interpretation. I'm simply saying, the way that they interpreted these verses and the hue that they cast on it really is unprecedented. That's what I'm saying, factually, it's just unprecedent doesn't mean it's wrong. I'm just saying it is unprecedented, so to bring in notions of political activism and to bring in notions of hachiya that Allah's judgment
has to be done and dispersed. And there the caliphate on the earth is a primary goal. Now of course to be says you can use this verse to say that we should have a caliphate, just a cursory thing. Now obviously, Modi also, they're writing, when the Ottoman Caliphate has collapsed, there is no hit F on Earth, right? And so they find comfort in this verse, and they use it to justify their vision of Islam, in which and again, I'm not saying their vision is right or wrong. That's not the purpose of this, this lecture at all. I have my views, but I mean, has beyond the scope here. As we're aware, Modi, in particular was the one who really found it as it took these ideas, this notion of
pride, making it a primary reality, to establish the laws of a law via an Islamic State via a philosopher. And obviously, understandably, you know, the Ottoman Caliphate has collapsed. And so there is this backlash of trying to re establish. So they take these verses, and they say that establishing a caliphate in which the laws of a law reign supreme, it is the primary purpose of mankind, because Allah said to the angels in the journal for ld califa, and
their interpretation, while not completely unprecedented, as I said, you find whiffs of it here and there, I still argue it is relatively novel. And that doesn't mean it's wrong. I have no problems, interpreting a verse, you know, slightly differently than the past, as long as the proper protocols are followed. I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm simply saying to be accurate, that it is somewhat unprecedented. And that's something that needs to be understood in mind, it is interesting to note that their interpretations have become the dominant interpretations almost globally. And the average Muslim, when the hears this verse and understands this verse, the interpretation they get is the
interpretation that these modern thinkers have done. And that's an interesting point over here. Now, to conclude this point, before we move on,
in reality,
I have thought about this verse, actually, for a long time. And I mean, like a long time, many, many, many years, I actually started researching this verse, no exaggeration, almost 20 years ago, when I was still a student, in Medina, and I've done a lot of research in this regard. And I myself have, you know, gone through many, many of my own phases and thinking and whatnot. And now at this stage of my life, and Allah knows what my future state is going to hold. I state that perhaps there's an element of truth in all three opinions that there could be a sense of, of truth in all three, that man did take over a previous entity, and that Allah is saying, this is a creation that
will self replicate and keep on taking over. And that yes, there is a spiritual notion, that man has been given a task by a law, he has been appointed by a law to do certain things that the other creation has not been appointed to do. And we get this from other verses, for example, the famous verse that in the album out of a man that is somehow what are all the words that we gave the Amana what is the Mr. golookup season you'll find all these interpretations, but it's very clear that one of the columnar bunny Adam, it's very clear that certain things and for example, the verse of that would you either will do in Janaka halifa to fill out of the we have made you a Holly found this
earth thought comb been a nurse so judge between the people now even if you say that only the prophets and the righteous still there is this notion therefore there is not unprecedented maybe you know a decade ago I would say that you know this is a wrong opinion or three but now I say you know there's an element of truth that we cannot deny. And we even find this in some Hadith as well. the authenticity of those a hadith is disputed you should know that nonetheless.
For example, a soltanto of the law he fell out of the that the Sultan is the ruler is Allah shadow on earth now the term halifa is not used, but the notion of the ruler doing something that Allah wants to be done that is there in the Hadith, and in that other Hadith as well that a lot of sewage I'm sorry, the Prophet salallahu it he was setting them called the MADI, the halifa to law had it doesn't even matter he called the MADI hollyford Allah the one that's gonna come towards the end of times he said that the hollyford to law the MADI go and give your oath of allegiance to him. So he called him the halifa to law and it is authentically narrated in multiple multiple books of history,
that one a worker also declare the law who was appointed to be the halifa somebody said to him, yeah hollyford Allah, and he said, I am not Khalifa of Allah. I am Khalifa of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa
Send them. So the fact that somebody addressed him yeah Khalifa Tila right? And he said no, no, no. And by the way, this interest very interesting, by the way because you have a whiff of number three, opinion three, that's also being negated at the same time, right? Somebody has an opinion that aboubaker is Khalifatul law, which indicates that the ruler is acting on behalf of God. And a Walker says no, no, no, I can't be halifa of Allah that's too big. I am halifa to rasulillah I'm taking charge when the prophecies have has gone on because Allah doesn't need a walker is basically saying Allah doesn't need a halifa but Islam needs a halifa so I think that's an interesting point over
here. And you know that the fact that Allah does not need a halifa actually is also demonstrated by the Hadith in body as well. The famous hadith of suffer when we travel, what do I do we make we say alojamento sloppy wolf is suffer. Well Holly for to fill, l O Allah, you are going to be my companion when I travel, and you are my halifa in my family. Allah is our Khalifa, what does that mean? When I go away, and I'm not physically there to protect my wife and children, the DA is Oh Allah, I'm assigning you to be my Khalifa. So to say that we are Allah's hanifa that's very theologically it raises eyebrows and it is potentially problematic and they will work with us to do
filtered to be problematic. That's why I said I am not calling for too long. I can't Allah doesn't need a Khalifa Allah is Allah He is a weird disease and other Allah colletion Kadir confer yakun that Allah, He doesn't need a Khalifa. But Islam needs a halifa. So hurry photo rasulillah. So again, this is a very interesting point over here. Bottom line and this interpretation that, as I said, and it's also interesting, by the way, it's very interesting in the journal for all the halifa in the creation of Adam is only mentioned once. So clearly, it's not as important as the next incident, which is Allah saying to the angels bow down to Adam, because that's mentioned like six,
seven times that's mentioned so many times in the Koran, whereas this is only mentioned once. So I do say this little bit bluntly, the later date thinkers who have interpreted this verse the way that they do, it does seem to go against the spirit of the Quran and even of theology, to be honest. But there's a whiff of truth. Yes, they may be took it a little bit too much. Yes, they may be exaggerated this notion that the primary goal of Islam is the establishment of you know, political laws and whatnot. That's not the primary goal, you can, if it were the primary goal agenda would be linked to it right? And you can enter agenda without such a system. And such a system will not
guarantee that you enter agenda and I've said this many times, my views are well known. And some people find them very irritating or whatnot, but it is what it is. And I say it again, the primary goal of existence is the pleasure of Allah is the entering of Jenna. Therefore, if this entity of a political state is going to guarantee Jenna, no doubt, it becomes the goal. Is it good? Of course, it's good, is it something we should try, of course we should try. But to make it the end all and be all to make it the primary number one goal, I am against this, and I have been against this for the last as long as I've been active in preaching and teaching. I don't agree with that, you know,
strand with utmost respect and love. I'm not too harsh critic, but I'm just not a part of those interpretations of Islam. And I understand where they came from, I contextualize them, and I appreciate the good that they have done. But I think that this interpretation in the geographer or the califa has taken this verse in directions that clearly are not intended and are not 100% correct. And Allah subhanho wa Taala knows best in any case, all of this was about in the jargon what are the califa? Now let's quickly move on and finish up the verse today show love to Allah. Allah azza wa jal then says that the angel said, attach a roofie her when you see the V how we speak
with the MA so the angels are asking Allah subhana wa Taala. Notice, by the way, what a beautiful question. Firstly, they ascribe the evil to mankind not to Allah maneuv Sufi her youth Sufi ways we could do, they're the ones causing evil. We do not ascribe evil to Allah as our Prophet salallahu it who has said him said, What shall rule Lisa illig evil is described to us not to Allah subhanho wa Taala secondly, they mentioned murder, Seth Kadima and facade, which is chaos. And this shows us the worst evil that man can do to man is to kill and to spread corruption, to take the rights of others. That's what facade means is to recover can have Civil War. That's what facade means. So the worst
crime that any man can do to other man is to create confusion on this earth and to kill that person. Also, they mentioned that they are worshipping Allah, which indicates that the most noble matter that any creation can do is the worship of Allah.
Law it's as if they're saying that Oh Allah. Here we are constantly worshipping you glorifying you doing, you're at the spear. And there they are constantly * and plundering and pillaging, what is the comparison? Why would you do that? This also shows us do your Muslims, a righteous person, the angels, it is allowed to ask questions in order to understand this questioning as Arbuckle we and others say it's not to challenge a law because that is not allowed. We do not ask questions to challenge a law, we may ask questions to seek to understand why Oh, Allah, why? Now of course, we cannot speak directly to Allah and expect a response, we can ask our scholars or lemma. Why did
Allah allow this? Why is this something forbidden? And if there's an answer, fine, if we don't understand the answer, we have to hear and we obey. This also shows us that the angels understood that the default of the creation is to worship Allah, and to be good. So they understood what is good and evil. And they understood that to be good is good. And to be evil is bad, even before any revelation comes down. It is something ingrained in the creation, that to be good is something that is good, and to be bad is something that is bad. And they understood that what the children of Adam will do is not normal, it is an aberration. It goes against the beauty of this creation. So Han
Allah, that's something that we have to think long and hard about that. The rest of the creation, except for these other creatures that we took over, the rest of the creation was in sync and in harmony, all of nature was doing perfectly fine. The angel said, Oh Allah, this creature is going to wreak havoc. And if you look frankly, what is happening in the world, if you look at really what we have done even with nature, and with the natural, you know, beauties that Allah has given us and how we have corrupted this earth. So behind Allah, we understand the angels really knew that the reality of what is going to happen here. Now, the question arises, how did the angels know that Benny Adam
is going to wreak havoc and cause bloodshed? How did they know this? And the scholars have answered this a number of ways. One group says number one opinion number one, given advice and other said, the angels knew this because of the reality of the jinn. And because the jinn committed evil so they understood that man will create evil. Number two, it is reported from a business rather than others, that they assumed that man would be evil based upon the way that Allah created man based upon the competent structure of man and this is a very common opinion had been kathina call to beat mentioned this as well, even I should have mentioned this. Number three, it is said that they knew that man
would be evil because they knew Allah created heaven and *, and that man would be part of heaven and *. So if people are going to go to *, then they're going to be evil, so there's going to be a new creation. Number four, that another opinion, they knew that man would be evil because Allah told them that man would be evil. Number five, some rhodiumized said that they had access to the local mouthfuls. And they read portions of the law in my fourth, and they knew that man would be evil. Number six for dinner, Rosie says that, when Allah appointed man to be the diva, this means that he shall judge between man and judgment can only happen when you have good and bad. So the very
fact that Allah is saying I'm making a halifa indicates that there is a need for a theta alpha, indicating there's a need for system and laws indicating that this creation is not good. It has checks and balances. So there will be people who go beyond the checks and balances. This is the sixth opinion. And then the final opinion that I'll mention, I already mentioned it before, and that is that even Omar on Qatada mentioned that there were species before Bundy Adam before Adam, and these species, the hynd been during all of these other ones. The other species, the angels could see there were evil, the angels recognized Adam is a similar concept as these and the angel said this is
going to be the same as that now again, all of these are opinions of how the angels knew this regard. And then inshallah would conclude by the very deep topic, which I'm not going to go into, because it's not really the place and I have gone into this in many other lectures of mine.
And that is that even the angels were asking about the very, very difficult question, one of the biggest mysteries of our existence, and that is the mystery of the existence of evil. Why is there pain? Why is there suffering? Why is the world such a difficult place? Why is there evil everywhere? Why would Allah allow this to happen? Even though the source as the angel said is us? Now this is the famous topic of theodicy, and theodicy is a branch of philosophy and of theology.
And theodicy basically means the wisdom of evil, why is there evil? And this topic cannot be answered in this series of lectures, it is an entire discipline of philosophy and you have many different methods. And you have every single theologian in every religion and every, you know, atheist, agnostic philosopher they tried to come to terms with this and everybody who believes in God like why would a merciful God allow the pain and suffering, you know, famous, you know, philosophers to ancient Rome from every system they have questioned this and I have spoken about this, Google, you know, on YouTube, you can look, look up my lectures I have hope doesn't lose, you
know, why is there evil? How can we explain pain and suffering? I have an entire lectures about this. And the bottom line is that, generally speaking, we believe that there are wisdoms we don't understand, but even this claim, it must have some faith, there are wisdoms we don't understand. Okay. What does that mean? It I mean, why would we accept this because we believe in Allah subhana wa Tada. So to conclude, Allah azza wa jal answered their deeply philosophical question, one of the most deepest questions that has troubled human minds that was asked even before the existence of mankind, Allah answered them, not by giving a detailed philosophical response, not by taking on the
challenge, and breaking it down. I'll tell you why There's evil point number one, point number two point number three, no, a create a creation, purer than us higher up in the hierarchy at that time, very intelligent. Allah said to them, essentially, you want to understand, you'll have to trust me, in the eye level man to the moon, I know what you do not know. Even the angels would not have fully understood the implications of the existence of evil. If that's the case of the angels than me and you do think we'll understand. And the end of the day, ours is not to challenge ours is not to question Allah created us. There is a wisdom that is known to him. If Allah had willed you could
have created something else completely different. There is no pain and suffering. And he did actually it's called Jenna, he did that place of no pain, no suffering No, no harm. That's called Jenna. And if we want to get there, well, then we have to bear with the pain and suffering in this world. We have to deal with it. With a man with duck wah. We have to understand that there's a purpose of life and Allah azza wa jal will reward those who have that understanding with a place in which we don't have to deal with that pain and that suffering we will have to simply trust Allah in the Alamo Mala. How would this inshallah we conclude today's lecture inshallah hope you'll find it a
benefit and we will continue in sha Allah tala in our next lecture until that time, a Solomonic warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
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