Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Conversations Episode 9 Its not your fault Surah alZaariyat [4760]
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Okay, Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasool
Allah wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'een.
Qala tabarak wa ta'ala fi kitabihi alkarim
ma'ad an aqool a'udhu billahi min
al shaytan al rajim.
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim.
Moving right along to our ninth episode in
this series of Ramadan Conversations.
We are exploring certain selected passages from the
Qur'an which are responding to Rasool Allah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's life, his struggles, his
efforts that he is making in Mecca for
now.
And then of course we will see as
migration takes place and then in Medina as
well.
Right around this time, it is important to
note that the earlier passages that we spoke
about, those were, it was more, we could
say more confidently that those were the first
revelations or those could be located in that
time period, in the earlier part.
And even in that order, we could say
that with more confidence.
As we are going on, the degree of
confidence that we have as to the exact
time period is not so much.
We have a fairly good idea as to
when these ayats were revealed, but there is
of course a lot of room for interpretation
in placing these ayats in different time periods
within Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's life.
But there is a general consensus that of
course these particular ayats are from the earlier
time period.
But what specifically, where in the earlier, we
cannot definitively say.
Right, so it's not necessarily in exact chronological
order that has to be borne in mind.
Now this particular passage that I recited from,
this is the third ruku of Surah Dhariyat.
And in retrospect, the one that we did
yesterday was Surah At-Tur, which is the
surah after this.
So maybe this should have been done first.
But in any case, it's around about the
same time period.
The Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the
criticism are predominantly verbal.
The accusations that the Quraish of Mecca are
hurling against Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
the way they're trying to demean him, tarnish
his reputation, character assassination attempts that are taking
place.
They're trying to make sure that people don't
listen to him.
Anybody who would try to come or try
to talk to Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, Rasool Allah would try to talk to
them, present the message to them.
People of Quraish, leaders of Quraish, the likes
of Abu Jahl, the likes of Abu Lahab,
they would be in close proximity abusing Rasool
Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Talking to the same person and telling them,
don't mind him, he's crazy.
Don't listen to him, he's lost it.
We're trying to deal with him, we're really
sorry.
He's completely bonkers.
Those statements about Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam in his presence, they would make to
anyone that he is attempting a conversation with.
The response that he's getting in these first
few years, other than a couple of people,
mostly it is, even in total, the first
few years yields Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam a handful of people.
Literally a handful of people, not a lot.
And those two do not belong to the
more influential, what the Quraish would consider the
more wise of their clan.
They were not the most well-off financially.
They were not people of authority.
So the only people responding to Rasool Allah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam are usually younger people.
They're slaves.
They're his wife, his nephew, his best friend.
That's the response that Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam has gotten.
His own...
Hang on, there's an issue with my connection
here.
Let me see if this comes back.
Okay, we're back.
Connection is back.
So that's the response that Rasool Allah sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam is getting.
His own uncles have rejected him, and not
in any small way.
They have publicly rejected him, demeaned him.
Now, in that context, Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam is hurt.
And there is so many different expressions of
that hurt.
Some of which we have spoken about when
we spoke about Surah Al-Hijr.
Where he's deeply in pain.
The chest is feeling constrained.
What do I do?
Where do I go?
What's going on here?
Why aren't they listening?
It is to their own detriment.
Why are they treating me like this?
All of those experiences we spoke about.
How Allah responds to that with Surah Al
-Fatiha.
And then one of the experiences of when
all of that is going on, Qur'an
stops coming, no more revelation.
A break in revelation at that point.
Rasool Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is wondering
what happened now.
Where do I go now?
What's the point of my life if revelation
has stopped?
Allah has abandoned me.
Reassurance came, no, we haven't abandoned you.
We're not displeased with you.
Then the sentiment, the experience where he's saying,
okay, why don't I just, you know, Qur
'an and recitation and prayer, salah, dua, this
relationship with Allah, why can't this be the
most of what I do, or all of
what I do?
And the revelation responds to that.
When you're done, when you're free, then we
can talk.
You have to take care of your responsibilities.
As difficult as it is, Inna ma'al
usri yusra.
In that usr, in that difficulty, there is
yusra, there is ease.
And even this ease of spirituality that you're
feeling is deeply connected with that pain.
So it is this process that you have
to go through.
And then Rasulullah ﷺ, again, all the bullying
that he is experiencing, that Allah comes to
his aid and reassurance, saying to him, you're
not invisible.
We see you.
How well do we see you?
We have you in our eyes.
And then another vagary of emotion or of
what Rasulullah ﷺ is experiencing is, am I
doing something wrong?
Is there something that I missed that they're
not responding the way they should?
What is it of the beauty of the
Qur'an, the beauty of nature, the beauty
of Allah that I'm not being able to
represent before them?
And it is in this self-blaming that
Rasulullah ﷺ is contemplating.
What can I do differently?
That was his response or one of his
responses.
Maybe I can do something different.
Maybe I am not doing what I'm supposed
to do.
That Allah responds to here.
And beautiful passage, third ruku of Surat al
-Dhariyat, وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْذِهُمْ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ Allah
says, we have built the heaven with our
own hands.
And for sure, we cause it to expand.
We continue to expand it.
Allah is asking Rasulullah ﷺ in the face
of the difficulty that he's encountering with the
Quraysh, the strength of the Quraysh, the power
that the Quraysh have, Rasulullah ﷺ is being
asked to look at the power of Allah.
Look at the grandeur of his creation, the
perfection in the heavens, the skies.
The power of Allah has not been exhausted.
Allah is telling Rasulullah ﷺ, we continue to
expand it.
It is a continuously expanding creation, a continuously
growing universe.
وَالْأَرْضَ فَرَشْنَاهَا And we have spread out the
earth.
فَنِعْمَ الْمَاهِدُونَ How excellent is the one who
spread it.
Allah referring to his own greatness, his power,
his wisdom, his beauty that is before Rasulullah
ﷺ.
وَمِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَا زَوْجَيْنِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّهُونَ And
we created everything in pairs so that you
may remember.
That how the pairing within creation is depictive
of its purposefulness and how that purposefulness is
attained in relationship.
How those relationships of complementing pairs, pairs that
are different in important ways but they come
together, complete each other in so many others.
In the physical dimension of the universe, in
the biological domain of reality, in the psychological
domain, in the spiritual domain, you see all
of these pairings that complement each other.
And within this we spoke about the importance
of pain and suffering as the importance of
night, today.
وَمِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَا زَوْجَيْنِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّهُونَ So
that you may remember.
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ And so from here, without
saying قل, without telling Rasulullah ﷺ to say
this, without saying قال, not he said, no.
It has been made a part of the
Qur'anic message but it is a quote
of Rasulullah ﷺ what he is delivering to
the people around him.
Telling people, فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ Run towards Allah.
You see the greatness of his creation, of
what he has in his power, of the
beauty in nature that depicts his beauty.
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ Run towards Allah.
There is something in this phrase that it
resonates but it's difficult to present, to articulate.
Running towards Allah, running is a depiction of
commitment, of passion, of something that you're desperate
for, it's a sign of desperation.
That you're running towards Allah, looking for something,
to be complete, to find your match, your
relationship, that which will complete you.
So Rasulullah ﷺ finding his own completion is
asking the community, the other people, all humanity
pretty much, run towards Allah.
That it is in running towards Him that
you will find that fulfillment.
إِنِّي لَكُمْ مِنْهُ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ I am to
you from Him a clear warner.
I ran to Him, I came back to
you to get you.
I'm a warner from Him to you.
وَلَا تَجْعَلُوا مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرٌ Don't set
up any other god besides Allah.
Who are you running towards?
Someone's running over there, someone's running over there.
Everyone's running in different directions thinking that they
will find completion, fulfillment, meaning in any and
all but Allah.
I ran to Allah, I am from Allah.
A warner to tell you that's not how
it works.
You can't set up equals with Him.
You can't take up, you can't give what
only Allah is deserving of to others.
And it is in this quote of Rasulullah
ﷺ what he's saying, this depiction of how
the relationship with Allah does not exclude, does
not preclude relationship with others.
Rasulullah ﷺ, the one saying, asking others to
run towards Allah is the one who has
run towards Allah and then run back to
people to make this connection.
And it's a beautiful metaphor for a prophet.
One running towards Allah and then running towards
the people looking to draw this connection, this
relationship.
That the dharf or the wus'at or
the capacity, the magnanimity of Allah as depicted
in nature, the grandeur of nature is such
that he is able to hold all of
these different relationships.
That for him the demand is not to
leave dunya.
Running towards him does not mean running away
from the world.
Rasulullah ﷺ ran towards him, ran back to
the world.
Keeps going to make these connections.
Activity in maintaining this relationship, holding this balance.
And Allah, the demand that he will make
though is those particular relationships or aspects within
those relationships that ask you to exclude Allah
absolutely.
Those are demonic relationships.
There can be no tolerance to those.
Although in the short run the forgiveness, the
hilm of Allah tolerates even that.
And Allah says, go ahead, you wanna lead
a demonic life?
You go ahead and live a demonic life.
One that cuts off relationships.
Go ahead.
See what that brings you.
See what that results in.
See if you're happier that way.
See if the society is better that way.
See if the fruits of that are what
you're actually looking for.
What you set out to do, you actually
attained.
Go ahead.
His hilm allows for even that.
And then Rasulullah ﷺ is told that this
is how it was before.
Just like this, messengers came to them before.
And whenever a messenger came, they all said
he's a magician, he's a madman.
Did they suggest it to them?
Are those previous generations of those who rejected
prophets, did they pass down this legacy?
Are they talking to the people of Quraysh?
The people of Quraysh are mimicking their responses
to the dot.
It's so uncanny.
Are they in conversation?
No, no, no, they have another commonality.
They're all people of transgression.
They're people who cross bounds.
They're people who are so given into their
sinfulness, their injustices, that they can't stand anyone
who talks of justice, truth, beauty.
Talks of tawheed, talks of Allah.
And then Allah turns to Rasulullah ﷺ that
ya Rasulullah, turn away from these people.
You run towards Allah, you turn towards people,
you ask them to run towards Allah, they
still don't listen.
They respond with all of these hurtful accusations
and abuses.
You turn away from them.
You're thinking it's your fault?
You are not to blame at all.
It's not your fault.
And you should continue to remind though.
You continue to remind.
For reminders, your teachings will resonate with the
believers.
Those who do believe, they will need to
hear this again and again and again and
again.
Because in the face of the Quraysh claiming
the contrary and claiming that with authority that
they have, the power that they have, with
the money that they have, they will be
shaken.
So for you to continuously go back to
them, reassure them, remind them, remind them, remind
them, it'll benefit them.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ And I
have not created the jinns and humans except
for My ibadah.
That there is this destiny for which this
creation is in its place.
And that destiny is this gnosis of Allah
which will manifest itself in a life, in
a community life, directed towards Him, circumambulating around
Him.
And what does it mean for a community
to be directed towards Him or revolving around
Him?
It means that it stands for His attributes,
His beautiful attributes, the Asma'ul Husna, for
truth, for beauty, for justice, for relationship.
That's what it means.
That that is the destiny, the purpose, towards
which and for which the human jinn creation
is there for.
And to have that level of gnosis, now
it's the gnosis or the knowledge of Allah,
is at the level of community.
It's a community held together by these understandings
and because the community has this knowledge of
Allah, the ultimate other, it has this knowledge
of their own selves.
Because you can't know the other without knowing
yourself better.
So ibadah, as much as it is a
process of knowing Allah more, loving Allah more,
conversely, reciprocally, it is a process of knowing
your own self and loving your own self.
مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُمْ مِنْ رِزْقٍ I don't want
any provision from them.
They don't have to feed me.
وَمَا أُرِيدُ وَإِنْ يُطْعِمُونَ They don't have to
feed me.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّقِ Allah Himself is the
provider.
He's the one who feeds.
ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينِ He's the possessor of awesome
strength.
Don't you see how His magnanimity in willing
to be in this relationship with you despite
His strength and power?
فَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ الظَّلَمُوا ذَنُوبَ مِثْلَ ذَنُوبِ أَصْحَابِهِمْ فَلَا
يَسْتَعَجِلُونَ And definitely for these unjust people who
don't listen to you, who abuse you, who
pain you, who hurt you, and your followers,
there's going to be a share, they're gonna
get a share in the punishment.
Just like their predecessors.
فَلَا يَسْتَعَجِلُونَ Do not let them be impatient
with me.
They're just urging Allah, bring it on, bring
it on, bring on the punishment.
No.
When they get it, and they will get
it, they won't like it.
They will see the consequences of this.
These actions are going to be with consequences.
فَوَيْلُوا لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا So damn these, those who
refuse to believe.
مِيَوْمِهِمُ الَّذِي يُعَدُونَ From the promised day of
their turn.
وآخر دعوانا عن الحمد لله وبالعالمين