Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Conversations Day 1 Surah AlAlaq 15
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All right, bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala
rasool Allah wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma
'in Thank you all for joining.
This is our first episode of Ramadan conversations
in which we look to explore the life
of Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam in
the context of revelation and how revelation i
.e. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Responds to
Rasool Allah in the various circumstances of his
life so the very first Conversation if you
will that we're starting off with is Surah
Alaq, read, iqra, the first revelation that Rasool
Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam Received and the
first thing that we want to relate with
here is that when Rasool Allah is in
that cave when he is There what's going
on in his life?
What has gone on in his life before
that?
He just doesn't find himself in the cave
and boom revelation comes in and that's where
his life starts no, there is a whole
life that he has lived a very whole
life a very fulfilling life a very productive
life and yet he's in that cave and
one of the Indications that we get from
a surah later on and we're gonna talk
about that surah as well This is going
to be suratul buhaa Where Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala refers to Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi
wa sallam as being lost وَوَجَتَكَ الضَّالًۭا فَهَدًۭا
We found you lost and We guided you.
So one thing that we immediately know is
that in that state in The cave of
Hira in that mountain in that cave in
that process of meditation Reflection whatever it is
that Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam was
doing He was lost He was looking for
the way He didn't know where to go.
He didn't know what to do Think about
this Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam is
by virtue of his marriage to Khadija radiallahu
ta'ala anha one of the richest people
in Mecca He is he has again in
the person of Khadija radiallahu ta'ala anha
the most loving wife As far as emotional
validation is concerned as far as emotional connection
is concerned.
It does not get better Than Khadija radiallahu
ta'ala anha by Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi
wa sallam's own admission How he longed for
her how he?
Respected and well how grateful he was for
her love for her support Rasool Allah salallahu
alayhi wa sallam has a beautiful family.
He has children He has a social repute.
He is known as Sadiq and Ameen He's
the sort of person who has good relationships
with everyone across the board rich or poor
Old or young Everybody loves him Literally, there
is nothing in that Social domain where you
would think oh he had issues with people
there were conflicts that were going on No
Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam Was beloved
to anyone and everyone who had met with
him and so a Loving wife incredible family
financially very well off socially very well established
Why would a person with all of this?
feel the need to detach from this detach
from all of that and Retire so to
speak or take this recluse in a mountain
and it's not an easy climb climbing all
the way up regularly take some supplies to
last him just enough for days and think
and reflect and meditate and worship and whatever
it is that he was doing over there
and One way to describe it as we
said before is that he was lost and
he was looking for a way now Immediately
what comes to mind is that this is
a spiritual recluse This is a spiritual exercise
that he is engaged in sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam is worshipping Allah there and There is
no doubting that but this particular Aspect that
I want to focus on with respect to
this worship.
Yes.
It is worship.
Yes It is a spiritual exercise, but it
is a spiritual exercise in which he has
a A Problem that he is looking to
find a solution for he is lost again
the Quran's own admission We found we found
you lost and we guided you This is
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the prime
of his years With everything that anyone can
possibly imagine getting in that society.
He has that we just spoke about it
yet He is lost It's not that he
doesn't know Allah He is a mohamed Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was never a mushrik
He was never The one to bow down
before idols he understood idolatry For what it
was He identified it as falsehood.
He did not engage in it He was
on the Dean of Ibrahim alayhis-salaam as
best as he understood it for as long
as you can Trace it back sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam So the particular area That he
was lost in that he was meditating reflecting
worshiping Allah and Thinking about find looking for
an answer in is how does my so
he How does my understanding of God as
being one How does it relate with the
problems out there in the world that I'm
coming from in that Meccan society?
People are suffering There is injustice There are
there is a particular class of people the
rulers Who pretty much they're the Constitution they
get to say whatever it is that they
want to say If they want to exploit
people if they want to cheat people non
Meccans don't have rights slaves don't have rights
There is so much that goes on in
that society in which women are treated Like
animals slaves are treated like animals a Master
can just do away with kill his slave
and that's okay, and we know That Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had done all of
what was in his power prior to this
To help and support those who were in
need When Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was
not married to Khadija Oh, they loved and
how he would extend his help and support
to anyone that he could find in his
individual capacity And he would help and support
them.
He couldn't do it financially.
He would do it through manual labor.
He would help them out Regardless of who
it was Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would
be there for them when he got married
to Khadija there's a particular incident that we
find in which he's when he comes home
and he's Complaining to Khadija that there are
people out there Who don't have any protection
against the Sun?
They're just there and I wish I had
the resources to facilitate them to help them
and He was hurt by their pain Khadija
saw that and she's also saw that he
doesn't look at my wealth as his He
thinks it's mine and he has no right
to it And so at that point she
went and made a public announcement that whatever
is mine is his Whatever I have Belongs
to Muhammad Ibn Abdullah.
It belongs to him.
He wasn't a prophet at that time, but
Lo and behold he became that that richest
man and He did spend both husband and
wife spent day and night from whatever they
had For the benefit of people, but it
just wasn't enough It simply did not it
could not no matter how rich you are
You come to a recognition of the limitation
of your resources You can't eliminate Injustice you
can't provide people with all of what they
need and So it is this pain this
struggle that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is bringing
to that cave of Hira Another aspect that
we see again in this in the life
before The Prophethood began before this revelation came
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam this is when there
is a particular non-Meccan and how his
right his Something that a rich Quraishi owed
him somebody who's influential in the Quraish and
he's rich he owes a non-Meccan citizen
a foreigner if you will some money or
some goods and he does not give him
and that person Implores the people of Mecca
that this is my right and your person
and your Your citizen or your Quraishi is
denying and it was at that point that
a group of Meccans got together In a
in a pact of sorts.
They made a little something of an organization
if you will and they said no We're
going to stand up for the rights of
these oppressed people And we're gonna make sure
that no one has to go through this
sort of this level of economic exploitation and
it was this incident this half of a
boon that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam would even
later as a prophet remember and say if
Now in Islam I had an opportunity to
be a part of something like that.
I would be a part of something like
that That was that noble of a venture
now, it wasn't a religious religious venture as
such Right.
It was a social venture but to ensure
that he gives validation a spiritual validation to
those social ventures as A prophet he recollects
and he says that I would have taken
part in that again even now But in
that cave in Hira with this having been
done in his past Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam
is recollecting is It has he has that
in his background, but he knows he's still
lost because Apparently it wasn't enough and we
can deduce quite clearly that it wasn't enough
because Exploitation was still there Injustices were still
there in this wonderful world Made by that
one God that God of Ibrahim Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wasallam's great ancestor this injustice It didn't
make sense evil that he saw around himself
It did not make sense.
It hurt him.
He's a very sensitive person Other people's pain
the way Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam feels that
pain the level to which he empathizes He
was Ra'oof Allah acknowledges that attribute about
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam one of Allah's own
attributes Ra'oof the Ra'afa the empathy
The degree the capacity to which Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wasallam was sensitive to another person another
human being's pain Allah acknowledges it with the
same word that he uses for himself Ra
'oof and so Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam in
that cave is carrying that pain Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wasallam is carrying that Confusion he is
bringing his lack of answers how lost he
is In whatever way he knows to worship
Allah So, let's be very clear on one
thing that this is not a spiritual cutting
off from the world turning your back on
it as to having identified having identified it
as useless and lowly and despicable and something
you don't want to have anything to do
with and looking to develop Higher bonds or
bonds with the Almighty Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam
is looking to develop bonds with the Almighty
but bonds that would help him Respond to
the situation on earth respond to the situation
in the society with people That's his pain.
That's where he's lost He knows the Waheed,
but he does not know how that understanding
of the Waheed or that belief in the
Waheed translates into social upliftment into the eradication
as best as possible of Evil making the
world a better place so that people suffer
less So that the pain of people is
less It is the pain of people that
brings Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam to that cave
because in his individual Capacity he has made
it as we say we cannot identify any
Economic or social reason as to why he
would personally be in pain.
It is his self-transcendence It is his
empathy towards other people that pains him so
much that he detaches from those comforts and
He is in the cave reflecting, meditating, worshipping
Allah It is in that state that he
receives the first revelation, so this is the
question That he brought to Allah That he
repeatedly brings to Allah in that situation and
the first response that he gets to this
question is What Iqra Read and so the
way Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam describes the experience
himself that it was he was in this
This state in the cave and Some sort
of transitory state between wakefulness and sleep and
this What he would later identify as Jibreel,
but at that time he would have been
this unidentified Creature perhaps.
What is this?
This non-human Something-something.
He didn't know it was Jibreel It was
a terrifying experience Comes to him and says
Iqra and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam responds Ma
ana bi qaari, I cannot read.
I cannot read The angel repeats the instruction
Iqra Again, angel we know now in retrospect
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam did not know that
and he responds.
I don't know how to read Third time
again Iqra, this time he holds him he
squeezes Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam where he felt
that his his ribs would Would collapse as
if they would cross one another Incredible pain
Again, that's one thing about pretty much every
experience of revelation that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam
would have later on as well There was
physical pain Associated with it and Especially in
the beginning an incredible amount of fear.
It was a very overwhelming experience and That's
when the rest of the ayaat are revealed
to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam Iqra bismi rabbika
allathee khalaq, khalaq alinsana min alaq Iqra wa
rabbuka alakrum, allathee allama bin alqalam, allama alinsana
ma lam ya'lam That's when he receives
these five ayaat That's when Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi
wasallam.
This is the answer to his to his
inquiry This is the guidance to his being
lost You want to do something about those
problems?
You want to figure out what your role
is in?
the social context You want to figure out?
How is it that you can solve anything
at all?
How is it that you can make the
world a better place?
Whatever it is that you don't like about
the world Again, it is pretty incredible that
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam with the understanding of
Tawheed that he did have understood that it
translated into doing something about changing the world
as it is as Perfect as the world
is as incredible as the world is as
awesome as the creation of Allah is at
the physical or the biological level at the
social level There are a lot of challenges
a lot of pain a lot of suffering
a lot of evil there is a lot
that has to be put up with and
Why should you put up with that?
His understanding of Tawheed his understanding of God
is not one in which he's supposed to
passively accept all of what it is for
what it is and just Be okay with
it his Understanding is such that he is
moved To do something about it It's just
that he doesn't know what it is that
he should do and the response that he
gets you want to know what to do
read read Educate yourself find out the first
step You're emotionally motivated You're emotionally in That
place the desperation the frustration the pain the
anxiety you feel it for the people But
that's insufficient you can't simply be emotionally in
that place and Expect for that to be
enough You can't just start acting because that's
not going to be act of action.
That's going to be a reaction You can't
simply start.
Okay.
Let me start fixing it No, what you're
going to end up doing is create more
chaos create more problems the first step is
To educate yourself is to read Let's go
down to the very basics Let's Inform ourselves
and that's precisely what the ayat Speak about
and I'm going to go into how Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wasallam Responded to these ayat perhaps
tomorrow when we talk about the next revelation
But just going into the text of these
ayat itself.
What is what is the message that he
is receiving?
Iqra' bismi rabbika allathee khalaq.
Read in the name of your Rabb, the
one who created So, why should you be
educating yourself?
Again, this is a response to a problem
The how lost Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is
he's bringing that lostness The feeling of being
lost before Allah and the context in which
he was feeling lost.
I tried to elaborate before And how does
tawheed relate with the evil in the world
the problems in the world the response that
he's getting to that Can't reiterate it enough
is to read To educate himself.
Now, of course in the context of Rasulullah
sallallahu alayhi wasallam this particular reading is The
reading and reciting of revelation of the Quran
itself, but as we read within this text
itself Education and knowledge and reading is Inclusive
of revelation, of course, but it is Far
beyond that as well.
It is much more other than that as
well And so he says read in the
name of your Rabb, the Rabb of Allah
The idea that he is the one who
Takes you step by step Through different stages
of growth and development to the point of
maturity That you attain physically Emotionally, socially, intellectually,
spiritually That Allah's Rabbu Bia Allah being Rabb,
what does it mean?
It means the loving care, the nurturance that
he provides So as to allow whatever it
is that he is a Rabb of to
reach its full potential That is the Rabbu
Bia of Allah.
In the singular Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is
being reminded of Allah's Rabbu Bia So your
reading is with this background understanding of the
Rabbu Bia of Allah.
They're just like the Rabb Just like my
Rabb, Allah brought me from stage by stage,
step by step To who I am right
now Reading is a continuation of that process
Educating myself, learning more is a Continuation of
the process of Allah's Rabbu Bia, of Allah
being the Rabb only now I Am actively
taking part in that process by allowing myself
to be educated But a lot of stages
of my development were not in my control.
My agency had very little to nothing to
do with it I wasn't consciously in control
of growing in my When I was a
fetus That wasn't in my control.
But now this I have to volunteer for
This I have to accept.
Okay, I'm ready to be educated.
I'm ready to read.
I'm willing to go through that trouble In
order to continue that process of Allah's Rabbu
Bia, of Allah's stage by stage, step by
step nurturing of who I am Who is
Allah Al-Ladhi Khalaq, the one who created?
What did he create is from Khalaq al
-insana min alaq.
He is the one who created the human
being from a clinging clot From that what
looks like a clinging clot, that leech-like
substance and we can go into the embryology
of it But when we do that, we
lose one very important point Which is a
reminder of the humility that is necessary to
be educated Remember where you came from?
Remember who you were physically?
Like an alaq So utterly dependent on Whatever
it is that you were getting within the
womb of your mother So insignificant, so small
so tiny Literally if somebody were to Gain
access and flick, that alaq would have been
flung off.
It would have been dead.
It would have been gone It was hanging
on for dear life quite literally clinging and
hanging on for dear life And that dear
life that was flowing through those vessels The
blood that was keeping us alive That is
how weak Insignificant Vulnerable We were physically.
Allah created us from that To who we
are today Definitely in relation to that alaq
much stronger Much less vulnerable so the hope
in this message is to think of those
that physical development that you underwent and Know
that intellectually Spiritually You are like that clinging
Substance hanging on for dear life very insignificant
very vulnerable But this power of knowledge This
process of education of reading It can empower
you It can help you develop In a
way that you become Very strong again as
strong as a as an adult human being
is when compared to an alaq when compared
to that Stage in the womb of the
mother where you're hanging on for dear life
Just like that the process of education of
reading and reciting reading and repeating is capable
of empowering you Such that you go from
the alaq to a formidable Respectable noble Iqra
wa rabbuka al-akram Read and your Rabb
is al-akram the nobility that is associated
with Allah He being your Rabb He being
akram himself He is educating you so that
karam that generosity that nobility Is passed on
to you as well That the ikram of
the human being in being educated by Allah
wa laqad karamna bani adam Allah said we
have done this karam We have accorded this
nobility and generosity to the children of Adam
This akram being akram Allah associates with himself
So what is education doing?
What is this iqra doing?
What is this iqra offering?
So that you gain in that karam and
move closer and closer to Allah iqra wa
rabbuka al-akram Read and your Rabb is
al-akram again, one of the greatest obstacles
in the path of knowledge is arrogance and
That obstacle is addressed by reminding us of
our humble origins the humility that a student
needs to bring To the classroom to a
text to a book to a teacher to
the Quran to Allah In order to gain
in that ikram that nobility, so you're told
of your origins Which are humble which is
that alaq and you are told of the
destination the ikram the karamness or the nobility
That which Allah ascribes to himself Alladhi allama
bilqalam He is the one who taught with
the qalam He taught with the pen.
What does the pen do?
The pen preserves knowledge The pen is a
way that human capacity for knowledge it expands
itself.
It goes beyond itself Allama al-insana ma
lam ya'lam He taught the human being
that which the human being did not know
Inshallah, we conclude with this.
I want to talk more about these last
two ayats I will do that tomorrow first
thing in our next episode and then we're
gonna move on to The next revelation that
Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam received after this what
happened in the aftermath of this revelation So
hopefully inshallah we continue that and conclude in
our next session Very very blessed Ramadan to
all of you watching live or watching the
recording May Allah make this the opportunity that
we all are in desperate need of so
that however we are lost We too can
find our way Wa akhiru da'wana anil
hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen, wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah