Yousuf Raza – Quran Daily Surah alBaqarah Ayah1
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the meaning of "the greatest of distinctions between human beings and language" in the surah Al-B tariff, which is the surah of the Q communicating words. The speaker explains that these surahs are a lot of words that are supposed to be read as a message, but they are not. The speaker also explains that language is a way to communicate ideas and lessons, rather than just words.
AI: Summary ©
Right, bismillah, alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolillah wa
ala alihi wa as'habihi ajma'een.
We're moving right along to surah Al-Baqarah
after having concluded something of reflections, insights on
surah Al-Fatiha.
Right, so surah Al-Baqarah, second surah of
the Qur'an, the longest surah of the
Qur'an revealed when the Messenger ﷺ had
migrated to Medina and the surah is called
the Sanam al-Qur'an, the pinnacle of
the Qur'an.
We're just gonna reflect on a few ideas
from some of the ayats in the surah,
starting from the very beginning.
It starts with alif, laam, meem.
Right, so this, these are disjointed letters, right,
that are supposed to be read as such,
as disjointed letters, not as a word.
And when we look into the meaning of
these letters, we come out with zilch, in
the sense that this is, this isn't coming
together to make a word that is communicating
a particular message like words do, but this
does not mean that it doesn't communicate any
message at all, or does not give any
lesson at all.
For the very beginning of this surah, or
most surahs, this is a a lot of
surahs actually, this is a common first ayah
for a lot of the surahs in the
Qur'an.
This is how they begin alif, laam, meem,
haa, meem, alif, laam, meem, saad.
So there are multiple letters that are used
to begin different surahs or chapters of the
Qur'an.
So like I said, there are still lessons,
and one such lesson is a lesson in
humility.
That the very first thing that the most
learned of scholars will tell you is we
don't know what this means.
We don't know what this means, and that
just puts you in a place of humility
that is necessary to approach any text.
That you enter, not with an attitude of
preconceived notions and judgments, and looking to superimpose
what you already understand onto whatever it is
that you're being confronted with.
Rather, you come in with the understanding, you
know what, I am here to learn some.
I don't know, and so I want to
know.
Right?
So that's the very first lesson that we
draw from alif, laam, meem.
From alif, laam, meem, we are reminded of
the greatest of distinctions between human beings and
animals, that of language.
How these units of language, if you will,
or if you will, singular alphabets, as to
what they represent of human greatness, of what
human beings are capable of, simply because we're
capable of language.
Simply because we can make something out of
alif, laam, meem, which as singular units do
not seem to make much sense, but when
arranged in infinite different combinations, they serve to
communicate ideas, lessons, meaning of infinite proportions.
And so this real, the civilization that we
are, that no other creature is, and how
far we've been able to come, how much
we're able to do, because we are capable
of thinking in signs as depicted in language,
as symbolized by alif, laam, meem.
That this world of language opens up a
world of possibilities to you with respect to
your future.
It opens up a world of interpretations with
respect to your past and present.
And so it allows for you to do
in the present what those who don't have
this capacity simply cannot do.
It gives you a freedom to, from that
world of possibilities, bring something into reality.
Those ideas that can become deeds, that can
change the world.
Right?
So this capacity for language and how it
is one of the most significant realms or
faculties of a human being that that depict
freedom, that allow for freedom, a freedom of
action, a freedom to to alter significantly the
environment that you're placed in, the world that
you're living in.
alif, laam, meem.
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