Yasir Qadhi – What Is The Amanah We Were Entrusted By Allah
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Today I recited the last two verses of
Surah Al-Ahzab, which is a very profound
and a very deep meaning verse.
In these verses Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says, إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ
وَالْجِبَالِ We offered the amanah to the heavens,
to the earth, and to the mountains.
فَأَبَيْنَ أَن يَحْمِلْنَهَا They refused to take the
amanah.
وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا And they became scared of taking
the amanah.
وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنسَانَ But Insan took the amanah.
إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا Insan was zalum.
He is wronging himself.
جهول, constantly in a state of ignorance.
لِيُعَذِّبَ اللَّهُ مُنَافِقِينَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ
وَالْمُشْرِكَاتِ Allah Azawajal will therefore, based upon this
amanah, those who didn't fulfill it, Allah will
punish the hypocrites men and women, and the
mushrik men and women, وَيَتُوبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ And Allah will forgive the believing men
and women, and Allah is Ghafoor and Rahim.
Today inshallah we'll explain a little bit about
these two verses.
What exactly is this amanah?
And how is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
offering it to the heavens and earth?
And what is the status of man that
has taken this reality?
This verse of course, it is a verse
that is a lot of tafsir you can
imagine.
Over 10 different interpretations have been given.
We don't have time to go over all
of them, but we'll go over some of
them.
Allah says, we offered the amanah, al-amanah.
One, it is a very big responsibility.
We offered the responsibility, not responsibilities.
Allah didn't say we offered amanat.
No, it is al-amanah.
There's one amanah in the singular.
There is one very important amanah, which means
Allah has entrusted.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given.
What is an amanah?
An amanah is something that you entrust with
somebody, and then you expect something in return
back from that amanah.
So Allah is saying, we offered the amanah
to the heavens, to the earth, to the
jibal, to the mountains.
And they refused to accept it, and they
became scared of it.
So first and foremost, we learn that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us, even
these inanimate objects, they have awareness and perception.
Even the inanimate objects, and of course the
Qur'an and the sunnah, and frankly, even
modern science and modern biology even seems to
suggest it.
Of course, their consciousness is different than our
consciousness.
But at some level, they do have some
awareness.
Allah azza wa jal mentions in the Qur
'an, there's nothing except that praises Him.
And Allah says that even the heavens and
the earth are prostrating to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And the Prophet ﷺ said that, I can
hear the tasbih of the stones.
And the Prophet ﷺ said that, the mountain
of Uhud loves us and we love it.
So he ascribed an emotion to the mountain.
The mountain of Uhud loves us and we
love it.
And as I said, even modern strands of
biology and of science, they are also affirming
that even plants and other inanimate objects, we
would consider they might have some type of
consciousness.
And of course the Qur'an affirms this.
So Allah is saying, these inanimate objects, and
He gives examples, the samawat, all that is
in the heavens, the ard, all that is
below you, the jibal, the solid mountains, no
creation wanted the amanah.
But insan wanted the amanah.
So what is this amanah?
So there are as I said more than
10 opinions.
One opinion, the amanah is the kalima of
la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah.
This is the amanah, that's one opinion.
Another opinion, the amanah is the salah.
We offered them the amanah that they have
to salah, pray salah, and they have to
pay the salah.
The amanah is they fulfill the obligation of
salah.
A third opinion, the amanah is not just
the salah, but all of the rituals, salah
and zakah and siyam, i.e. the ibadat
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And this is similar to the second opinion.
The fourth opinion, the amanah is the laws
of Allah, the wajibat.
All of the obligations, not just the rituals,
but the obligations, including the hudud, including all
of the shara' of Islam.
The fifth interpretation, it is even broader than
this.
It is the deen of Allah, the deen
which is the broadest.
So if you look at the previous, all
of them, they are aspects of the deen.
This opinion, the entire deen is amanah.
We offer the religion of Islam to these
inanimate objects.
They all said, it is too big of
a responsibility.
Let us remain at our level.
Don't give us the capacity to rise up
because with that capacity, we also have the
capacity to fall down.
Let us be neutral.
We don't wanna be tested.
We don't want ibtila.
We wanna remain without ibtila, without having to
answer to the amanah.
So all of the creation turned it down
and insan took it.
So these are five.
Let's move on.
So the first five all deal with aspects
of Islam.
We started from one, the kalima, to salah,
to salah and ibadat, to mu'amalat, and
then to the entire religion.
Then there's another genre of interpretations.
These are not dealing with external.
It deals with internal, what is inside of
us.
So what is the amanah according to another
group of scholars?
They said, one group said, and especially those
that were the mu'tazila type of scholars, they
said the amanah is free will.
We have the capacity to obey and disobey.
لمن شاء منكم فمن شاء فليؤمن ومن شاء
فليقفر According to their interpretation, we have ultimate
free will.
And according to our interpretation, no, we don't
have ultimate free will.
وما تشاءنا إلا أن يشاء الله رب العالمين
Our will is always under the will of
Allah.
But without a doubt, we have a type
of mashia or will that the inanimate object
does not have.
So according to this interpretation, amanah is choice.
And with choice comes privilege.
But with privilege also comes the potential for
failure.
So this is another interpretation.
Amanah is mashia or free will.
Another interpretation, number seven, I think we're on.
Another interpretation, amanah is aql, intellect.
Allah offered all of these entities something that
only one species will get.
And that is intelligence, aql.
And so, insan said, I want it.
And by getting it, insan became a different
level.
But again, with that level comes privilege and
also comes the opposite.
Yet another interpretation, number eight now.
It is not just aql, it is all
of the faculties.
The faculty to hear, to see, to speak,
to touch.
We are the only species that has these
faculties to that level.
Especially the faculty of bayan.
الرحمن علم قرآن خلق الإنسان علمه البيان Allah
taught us, this is the amanah that Allah
gave us.
And by the way, bayan would include aql.
Because bayan requires aql.
You can have aql without bayan.
You cannot have bayan without aql.
You can have aql and not be intelligent
speaker.
But you cannot have bayan without aql.
So, all of this goes back to the
privilege that man has been given.
Yet another interpretation, and this is the interpretation
of many of the modern thinkers of our
times, such as Sayyid Qutub and perhaps also
Maududi to a certain level, that amanah here
is social responsibility or in enacting Allah's laws
on earth or the concept of khilafa, right?
So, the amanah is the responsibility to be
Allah's khalifa on earth.
To effectively rule over the creation in the
name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
We are obliged to treat the makhluq, to
treat the inanimate objects, to treat everything around
us by establishing justice, by establishing morality.
That is the amanah.
So, we have this, and this is a
more modern interpretation, but we find elements of
it in the past as well.
Of course, these are all, I would say,
within mainstream.
There are also opinions we don't have time
to get into that are, I would say,
outside of our normative mainstream.
For example, the famous philosophical Sufi Ibn Arabi.
Ibn Arabi, the one who wrote Fususul Hikam
and whatnot.
So, you know, they have a different interpretation.
I'm just narrating to what he said that
this amanah is the divine nur of Allah
that He placed in the quloob of the
servants.
Because they believe that, and this goes back
to Gnosticism, it goes back to elements of
ancient religions and whatnot.
They believe there's a spark of divinity in
all of us, let's say, right?
There's a bit of, you know, Allah's light
in all of us.
We don't believe this, but that's their interpretation.
So, they say, this is the nur that
is in the qalb that all of us
have to have that amanah.
And then, of course, you have like the
non-Sunni groups, the Ithna Ashari Al-Majlisi,
for example, the famous scholar of the Ithna
Ashari strand.
He says, the amanah, of course, is the
concept of the imams and whatnot.
So, they have other interpretations.
But for us, in our tradition, as I
said, there's over 10 interpretations.
Now, which one is right?
If you look at all of these that
I have given you, the 10 mainstream ones,
in reality, what we are talking about is
something that makes insan different from the other
makhluqat.
And therefore, all of these are manifestations of
this amanah.
Some of them are external, and that is
the religion of Islam.
And others are internal, and that is why
are we different from the other makhluqat.
And in fact, I don't see a contradiction
saying, all of these examples that I have
given are a part of Allah's amanah.
We created man to be different.
And we entrusted man with something that the
other makhluqat do not have.
What do we have that the other makhluqat
do not have?
Well, first and foremost, we have, Allah has
given us faculties that He has not given
other creation.
And secondly, Allah has revealed to us the
religion, and the deen, and the Qur'an,
and sent prophets to us.
And therefore, all of this comes together because
there would be no sense of sending prophets
if Allah hadn't given us the aql to
understand the prophets.
There would be no sense to send the
Qur'an if Allah had not given us
the knowledge to understand the bayan of the
Qur'an.
So the two of these, internal and external,
actually go together.
Because if Allah had created us with aql,
but without hidayah, where would be the amanah?
And if Allah had sent down the hidayah,
but without aql, what's the purpose of hidayah?
So the amanah is a special privilege that
we have and the other makhluqah do not
have.
That privilege is manifested in how we are
different, and in how Allah has blessed us.
So Allah says, we gave it to all
of these creation.
Now if somebody says, how could they have
refused?
We respond, aradah is not a command, aradah
is to display.
Literally in Arabic, when you say aradah, literally
like the merchant displays his wares, which indicates
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was giving them
the choice.
Unlike when Allah said to the angels, bow
down to Adam, there is no choice.
Usjudu, this is not arad, this is amr,
this is command.
As for this, it is clear, Allah is
giving them a choice.
Do you want the amanah?
And all of the makhluqah said, it is
too big of a responsibility.
We would rather remain without being tested.
And this means we will give up the
possibility of being rewarded jannah.
But we're also saving ourselves the possibility of
entering jahannam.
It's neutral.
Neither positive nor negative, we'd rather remain there.
Then when insan was given this choice, wal
hamalah al-insan, insan immediately carried the amanah.
He put it on his back, I want
this amanah.
Now, did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give
this choice to all of insan?
The majority of scholars say, no, He gave
it to our father Adam.
And when Adam accepted it, either we can
say that just like we are dependent upon
our fathers and their fathers before us, like
there's elements of our father's responsibility that we
do bear in terms of where we were
born, in terms of our upbringing and privilege.
It's something that comes with the territory.
So when Adam took it on, then the
children of Adam also have to take it
on.
And another interpretation is that Adam took it
on, but Adam is symbolic of all of
us.
If we were there, we would have done
it as well.
Adam is our father.
Adam is my father and your father.
So by Adam accepting, Allah is indicating, you
would have accepted it too.
That's how you are.
And a third interpretation is that actually Allah
gave the amanah to all bani Adam.
And this goes back to another verse in
the Quran I have spoken about this, I
think two years ago.
And that is Surah Al-A'raf, when
Allah says, Recall when I took the covenant
from the children of Adam.
From all of the children of Adam.
وَيَتْأَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِنْ ظُهُورِهِمْ Bani
Adam.
And Allah said, Am I not your Lord?
And they all said, Yes, you are our
Lord.
So another interpretation, actually the amanah was offered
not just to Adam, but to all of
us.
And we all accepted that amanah.
And this is interesting because some of these
atheists, these agnostics, they say, I didn't have
a choice.
I wasn't asked whether I want to be
created or not.
Because you know, they really fetishize consent, right?
Consent to the point of it becoming irrational.
Consent has a role in Islamic law, but
there are things that are beyond consent.
And some of these agnostics and atheists say,
It's not fair.
I didn't choose to be created.
You didn't ask me.
If they go down that route, we can
actually, we have an argument from the Quran.
Actually, we believe you were.
We believe that choice was given when you
were in your soul, in your ruh.
And we as a creation, as a species,
all of us were eager to accept this
amanah.
Because we wanted that responsibility, because we wanted
that power, because we wanted the potential to
rise up, the potential to be tested and
pass the test.
And we were not that concerned about the
possibility of failure.
And that's why Allah says, innahu kana dhalooman
jahoola.
Man is consistently wronging himself.
Dhaloom means dhalim is doing wrong once.
Dhaloom, he's doing wrong continuously.
Man is not capable of being sinless.
Man is consistently falling short.
Jahool, jahil, you are ignorant.
Jahool, utterly ignorant.
It's the more stronger, if you like, it's
the more efficacious sigat al-mubalighah is called,
which is, I don't know how to translate
sigat al-mubalighah.
It's called the exaggerated state.
He is very jahil, jahool.
That's what we call it, very jahil.
So, insan is dhaloom and jahool.
Now, pause here.
Does this mean we are at a disadvantage?
If somebody will say, well, that's not fair.
I wasn't, you know, it's not my choice
that I'm dhaloom and jahool.
We respond, don't take just one phrase and
ignore the rest of the Quran.
Firstly, the very next verse we're gonna come
to, Allah mentions the way out.
And secondly, Allah is describing that compared to
the other creation, man is hasty, man is
prone to commit sin, and man does not
recognize how ignorant he is.
The other creation actually are more responsible in
this regard.
And this is in the Quran.
خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفًا Man has been created weak.
خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ مِنْ عَجَلٍ Man is so hasty.
But these verses should not be taken in
isolation of other verses, which indicate Allah has
privileged the children of Adam.
Allah has blessed the children of Adam.
Allah says in the Quran, وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي
آدَمًا We have honored the children of Adam,
and we have given them privilege over many
of the other creations that we have.
وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْطِيلًا We have
preferred the children of Adam over the majority
of other creations.
And Allah mentions in the Quran about the
creation of Adam.
And He says to Iblis, Why wouldn't you
prostrate and bow down to that creation, which
I fashioned with my own two hands.
This is a privilege.
خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ Allah is saying, I fashioned Adam.
No other creation has been shaped by my
own hands other than Adam.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala preferred us
over all the creation when He commanded even
the angels to bow down to us.
So you cannot just take ظَلُومٍ and جَهُولٍ
and خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَجَلٍ and خُلِقَ الْإِنسَانَ
ضَعِيفٍ and ignore the rest of the Quran.
No.
Man has been privileged.
Man has been given things.
But there are also negatives that man has
to be aware of.
And the reason for telling us those negatives
is so that we overcome them.
We do not fall prey to them.
Then Allah says, so man took this amanah.
And man did not fully think things through.
But still, because of this, لِيُعَذِّبَ اللَّهُ The
laam here, not to get too advanced here,
it's not really technically for the Arabs in
the audience, laam ta'aliliyyah.
It's rather a causal laam.
In other words, what the Quran is saying,
therefore, based upon the amanah, there will be
some people who will be punished, and others
who will not be punished.
The laam here, it links back to the
amanah.
Based on this, therefore, some people will be
punished.
Who will be punished?
مُنَافِقِين مُنَافِقَات Because the munafiq, what is the
characteristic of the munafiq?
He doesn't fulfill the amanah.
This is literally the characteristic of the munafiq.
And the worst munafiq is the one who
fails the biggest amanah, which is the amanah
between him and Allah SWT.
And that's why in this verse, Allah begins
munafiq before the mushrik.
لِيُعَذِّبَ اللَّهُ مُنَافِقِين مُنَافِقَات وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ وَالْمُشْرِكَات So
this also indicates, therefore, that the amanah is
tawheed.
It is the deen of Allah.
It is believing in Allah.
Because the mushrik rejects the religion of Allah.
So amanah is therefore, as we said, internal
and external.
And then, and so that Allah may forgive
the believing men and women.
By the way, mushrikeen, mushrikat, mu'mineen, mu'minat, munafiqeen,
munafiqat.
Both men and women are mentioned.
And that is not common, because usually Allah
only mentions the male gender because the female
is included.
To indicate a very important point here, when
it comes to holding the amanah, both men
and women are equal.
And I have said multiple times in khutbas
and durs, I have said this phrase, real
equality is equality in front of Allah.
This is what we believe.
This is real equality.
As for roles and responsibilities, this is not
equality.
This is just laws.
Real equality, the dignity of a man, the
responsibilities of the man, the karama of a
man is the same as the dignity, responsibility,
karama of a woman.
And this ayah proves it.
The munafiqeen, munafiqat will be punished.
The mu'mineen, mu'minat will be rewarded.
Both are mentioned by gender.
Because both genders equally are responsible for that
amanah.
Now, interesting point before we conclude.
وَيَتُوبَ اللَّهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتَ Allah says, I'm
gonna punish the munafiqeen and the mushrikeen, and
I will forgive.
He didn't say reward.
He said forgive.
Because there's a subtle indication.
Two indications by choosing the word yatub.
Firstly, that you will never be able to
fully convey the amanah the way that it
is deserved.
You cannot.
You cannot give back the amanah perfectly.
That's impossible.
So nobody is gonna be perfect.
But then secondly, to indicate another beautiful point.
No matter how imperfect you are, if you
try, Allah will forgive you.
You don't need perfection.
Allah didn't say, and I'm gonna reward the
righteous.
Because if Allah had said that, we would
always be wondering, how will I ever get
there?
Allah said, no, don't worry.
yatub.
No matter where you are, if you have
mu'minin, mu'minat, if you have iman, which means
you are trying, you have that even the
flicker of iman, and you have some attempt,
don't worry, I shall forgive the rest.
The only people who will not be forgiven
are the munafiqeen, the mushrikeen.
They have no desire for Allah's forgiveness.
They have no desire to fulfill the amanah.
But the mu'min who knows there's an amanah,
and who's trying to fulfill the amanah, Allah
says, don't worry, you shall be forgiven.
Just do what you can.
And Allah finishes this verse, وَكَانَ اللَّهُ...
What?
غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا To contradisting dhaloom and jahool.
Because dhaloom requires maghfira, and jahool requires rahma.
Allah says, don't worry, you're dhaloom, but I'm
ghafoor.
And you're jahool, and I am rahim and
rahman.
So Allah is saying, yes, you have some
negatives, but don't worry, those will be overlooked
by my positives.
Any mistake you make, you're dhaloom.
Any mistake you make, I am ghafoor, I
will forgive them.
And any error you make because you're jahil,
don't worry, my rahma will encompass you.
It will overcome your jahil.
And so this beautiful ayah tells us a
very optimistic message.
It's a very beautiful message.
And that message is, O Adam and children
of Adam.
Yes, you might have been a little bit
hasty.
Yes, you took on a big responsibility that
the other makhluqa did not want to take
on.
And there is an element of hastiness, an
element of dhaloom and jahool.
But don't worry, I wanted you to take
this because I honored you.
And I will take care of you.
And I will forgive you even if you
fall short.
That is why I created you.
Li, so that Allah can forgive the mu'mineen
and the mu'minat.
I created you to forgive you.
And I created you to show my rahma
to you.
All that I'm asking of you is you
recognize that you are blessed, you have this
amanah on your backs, and you must pay
it back to me the best that you
can.
If you do so, then there's guarantee from
me, I shall yatoob because I am ghafoor
and I am rahim.
What a beautiful message Allah has given us.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
appreciate it, recognize it, and fulfill that amanah
so that we can obtain Allah's maghfirah and
rahma.
Wa jazakumullah khair.
Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.
Al-Fatiha.