Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Nights 2021 Day 19
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Shariqah lah Wa nashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa
rasuluh Amma ba'ad fa inna khayri al
-hadi fi kitabu Allah Wa khayri al-hadi
hadi Muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Wa sharab
al-muri muhtasatuha wa kulla muhtasatin bid'ah
Wa kulla bid'atin dalalah wa kulla dalalahin
fil naar Yaqulu subhanahu wa ta'ala fi
kitabihi alkarim Bi hurmati
Muhammad al-Mustafa wa bi siri Surat al
-Fatiha Okay,
moving very long In Surah A'raf Before
I do that, I did want to thank
all of you Those of you who tune
in live in particular But of course, those
who are watching the recordings as well It's
a very different format Doing this in front
of the camera Most of the time I
do not have my eyes on the chat
It is difficult for me to be able
to appreciate If people are following along I
don't have any body language cues I don't
have any head nods to go by Usually
every time I've done this Or pretty much
every time I've taught That has been a
very important feedback for me For us to
know that whatever it is that I'm saying
If it makes sense in my head It
makes sense out of my head as well
At times I feel like I am trying
too hard And making things more difficult than
they should be But of course that's a
work in progress As is everything else But
I do appreciate the feedback That whenever it
does come by It gives me an idea
that it's hitting home Or some things at
least are making sense And whatever isn't making
sense Especially when you're able to clarify that
to me It allows me to address that
in subsequent topics Or in the Q&As
So Jazakumullahu Khayran All of you for making
this easier Than what it would have been
If I was just blabbering in front of
a camera Moving right along from there Surah
Al-A'raf We covered a couple of
rukus from the very beginning Four to be
exact We're going to go on to the
rest of the surah Hopefully covering as much
of it today as we can When we
left there were people in Jahannam Arguing against
each other And we spoke about the nature
of Shaytan As to how he instigates human
beings And one of the things he instigates
human beings against Is each other So instinctive
nature of human beings Is exploited, fueled Such
that it becomes incredibly self-centered And the
more self-centered we are The more conflict
oriented we become And it's hardly ever That's
a very naive way of looking at anything
That we say that I'm either selfish or
I'm selfless Either of those terms cannot be
descriptive Of the entire human being Any single
human being Actions, yes, can be selfish or
selfless And that to the judgment is best
Less to the individual themselves The kindest of
feedback would help But nevertheless You don't give
definitive absolute judgments Against people as a whole
That is something very demonic And once that
demonic judgment Becomes categorical, definitive Telling the other
person that this is who they are Once
that starts happening Of course the conflict goes
to a new level altogether And we see
in these ayats That you become so inveterately
contentious Conflict has become so much of who
you are As a person And that is
what jahannam is all about Conflicting people, conflicting
with each other They're fighting even in the
midst of the fire That's all of what
they're Whatever space they have to speak Is
going to be gnawing each other's heads off
So it's not just the physical torment of
jahannam It is the psychological torment That it
is accompanied with With a constant exposure to
abusiveness That same abusiveness that was part and
parcel Of a person's character in dunya Becomes
something that is thrown back in their face
By people of their ilk People of their
ilk who Rather than identifying with them They
oppose them, blame them And it's just a
constant series of blaming each other So moving
right along from there A'udhu Billahi Minash
Shaitanir Rajeem Innal ladheena kadhdakoo bi-aayatina wastakbaroo
anha Certainly those These are the people who
are in jahannam What is their characteristic feature?
Denied are ions So all of what we've
learned about our demonic predilections That we have
demonic tendencies Pretty big ones Tendency is too
kind of a word Or too mushy of
a word To do justice to the demons
that we can become What is our safety?
Or what is our safety net?
Or what is our protection?
What is our way to immunize ourselves if
you will Or cure ourselves Against the demons
that we can become Or we have already
become It is openness to the ayaat of
Allah It is that attitude of humility towards
the ayaat of Allah Wherever you find them,
however you find them That openness is the
hallmark of the people of jahannam And again,
that openness The hadith that we find, which
is actually one hadith The hadith that says
that whoever has a grain of iman In
their heart Eventually they'll end up in paradise
And whoever has a grain of arrogance, hibur
In their hearts, they cannot enter paradise And
how that hibur in contrast to iman We
know about kufr in contrast to iman We
know about hypocrisy or nifaq in contrast to
iman But it is so important to recognize
hibur In contrast to iman And when we
look at hibur in contrast to iman The
humility of iman as it manifests in the
openness towards the ayaat of Allah As a
continuous process, as a continuous self-correcting process
That we look at the ayaat of Allah
Allah's ayaat are presenting themselves to us in
a new light Even the same ones will
present to you in a new light Provided
you take the other series And that gives
you data to correct yourself To rectify your
ways And to be able to do that
is the way of iman Is the way
of the people of paradise So those who
deny our ayaat and show arrogance towards them
Kibur, full stop towards the ayaat No ayaat
All I know is whatever I have Whatever
I have is all that is needed to
be known All of knowledge is possessed In
whatever I have already fixedly called on to
Gates of heaven will not be open to
them Because that claim of absolute knowledge Which
is hardly ever made from the tongue But
always, always implied from action And refusal to
acknowledge the ayaat outside Of what is already
in one's system of belief That attitude of
kibur Arrogates to itself a height that it
doesn't deserve It is arrogating to itself a
god-like position Which it doesn't have And
so the punishment always is that of humiliation
And as we see, opening of the doors
of the heavens Or the skies Is opening
of the door for paradise For actually getting
closer to Allah That's lost Those who thought
they were already there That is exactly where
they can't get No matter what They will
not enter paradise until the camel passes through
the eye of the needle And this is
how we reward criminals The intimate relationship Intricate
relationship between the takdheeb of the ayaat of
Allah And jurm Committing crimes And how they
come together In a person Reinforcing each other
And for them their bed will be the
fire of * And above them there will
be a covering They are enveloped on all
sides With flames And that is how we
repay the people of zulm Those who believe
and perform righteously In contrast to the jurm
You see iman and amal salih They should
know that we do not burden anyone beyond
their capacity No soul is burdened beyond its
capacity So whatever We spoke briefly about this
before as well A person suffering Is also
a declaration of a person's worth It is
also a pronouncement of a person's strength Of
their capacity Of their worthiness of Allah We
belong to Allah And we will return to
him Suffering is an opportunity to grow When
that return does come We are all the
better for having suffered We are all the
stronger for having endured We are all the
more actualized Whenever suffering comes It creates obstacles
for growth Externally It opens up passages to
growth Internally And that is always the nature
of true suffering Never a nature of the
ignoble suffering Or the suffering that one brings
upon themselves When it could have been averted
And it should have been averted That sort
of self-punishment Is It is deprived of
nobility It is deprived of the growth That
it has to offer And it is a
challenge Balancing between the two There is a
point where suffering and self-punishment Becomes an
avoidance of responsibility And to observe that care
To observe that care To always, always, always
primarily look To avert suffering To do what
we can To ensure that it doesn't happen
It doesn't come Prevent it All that is
realistically within our grasp But then when it
does come Regardless of all the efforts we
could have and should have made Then we
Then it is for the people of Allah
For the Lillah To stand strong and endure
Endure not necessarily passively But endure perseverantly The
two dimensions of sabr One dimension which you
have to accept And cannot do anything And
the other dimension of doing Whatever it is
that you possibly can Despite the difficulty And
that mostly sabr Is and should be both
dimensions together Whenever you see Just one There
is usually a big problem For when you
have to persevere Constantly do something Act And
you don't, you just passively endure You just
Take it And the proactivity The doing is
completely missing Then all that needs to be
done on your part To relieve that suffering
is also not happening All that needs to
be done on your part To actualize What
can only be actualized in the midst of
suffering Will not be done And so that
is calling for Different kinds of other Perhaps
ignoble sufferings Also the other side when there
is an Effort to do To do To
be more and more proactive To be more
and more action oriented When endurance Of the
passive kind or acceptance The attitude of accepting
things for Being unchangeable When that is called
for Then that person is akin to Banging
their head against the wall And that is
incurring damage And you don't want to go
there either And you always as an individual
Would know especially from the results Of whichever
path you have taken Whether that is of
balance or one or the other extreme Your
results Your results are those ayats They are
Allah's response To whether you are getting it
right Or you are getting it wrong And
to lean towards one extreme or the other
Perfectly human, we sin, we err, we make
mistakes In judgment, in action, all of that
Perfectly fine, no problem Do we keep ourselves
open to those results To those responses and
dialogically Dialogically in the sense that Allah has
responded You respond, you are in a dialogue
with him You respond by acknowledging, okay, I
see it, I get it It is not
working, I change ways I ask others Others
can show me what I have not been
able to see For myself, that constitutes As
what Allah wants me to know as well
Of course the judgment remains mine Always open
to error But then the persistent effort Those
who continue to put in that effort We
will guide them to our paths That is
Allah's promise That self-rectification will take place
Provided the attitude is open, one of Iman
We will not burden anyone beyond his capacity
These are the people of paradise Already what
is depicted in the ayat Talking about paradise
It is implying that they have been through
a lot That they have suffered That they
proved equal to their suffering Worthy of their
suffering Now they are in paradise They will
live in there forever And we will remove
from their hearts Whatever ill feeling, whatever resentment
they have Towards each other Shaytan was as
much of a reality for the people of
paradise As he was for the people of
* It is not that these people got
to paradise Conflict free It is not that
these people got to paradise Without having had
any arguments Without having had any very spiteful
arguments Without having been caught in the midst
of toxicity Without having contributed to that toxicity
The zil is a human condition To have
anger, to have resentment Is defined For the
ashabul jannah That can only be taken out
When they are in paradise So it does
make you wonder When a lot of people
Very passionately and very Categorically claim That they
have no resentment or hatred towards anyone at
all Really?
That is awesome if it is true But
don't mind me I am suspicious of everything
It is being described As a process that
is taking place In jannah itself But so
much of our mutual interactions Of salam And
being good and kind to each other So
much of what qualifies As ihsan between human
beings Really beautiful conduct between human beings Takes
place in spite of the zil Despite having
some resentment Somewhere or something Which is inevitable
Which is inevitable However this zil did not
get the better of their conduct It did
not drive them Towards closing themselves off to
the ayat of Allah Towards zulm It did
not happen They opened themselves up They disciplined
themselves They did not reactively give into the
zil And become people of resentment Their responses
were more mature They were choices They were
aware And to make a mature response A
conscious response A beautiful response Necessitates that you
are aware Of the zil as well To
as much of a degree as possible Unawareness
of the zil Self-deception Denial of it
altogether Opens the door It leads to
Action which may look to be very very
good But is veiled expression of hatred And
that changes So the awareness of a zil
And despite that awareness With that awareness rather
A more mature response Of goodness Is a
safer place to be in Rather than a
goodness which is Devoid of any awareness It
won't take long for that goodness to turn
To blow up like a volcano And spew
all the filth out Or outrightly giving into
the zil And being a hateful person A
spiteful person A toxic person Rivers will flow
beneath them And they will say All
praise and gratitude Is for Allah Who guided
us here And we could never Have been
guided Had Allah not guided us The ayahs
started with Allah describing them as people of
Iman and Amal al-Saleh And both Iman
and Amal al-Saleh Are described in a
language where they depict Conscious choices having been
made And deliberate effort being put in But
when they describe themselves and their humility They
recognize that it's all Allah Alhamdulillah The way
the things got put together Even our ability
to respond positively Even our ability to choose
It's from Allah It is from Allah And
nothing of this would have ever been possible
Without the guidance that we got from Allah
Had Allah not guided us Definitely the messengers
of our Rabb Did come to us with
truth And it will be announced for them
This is paradise This is the ultimate verification
that they get Of their Iman This proclamation
Hypothesis confirmed We believed strongly That the prophets
of God Had brought the truth And those
who we are claiming to believe in Are
really the prophets of Allah From Allah These
are ayahs of Allah And they lived in
accordance with those convictions Not having 100%
certainty Not having The That only
paradise can bring Now paradise has brought that
It worked That was guidance from Allah That
was the truth Confirmed That the best verification
of your Experiment you can possibly get And
the experiment that was their life It was
a risk They put everything on the line
for it Or at least most things And
they are there and they are celebrating And
it will be announced to them This is
paradise Words inheritors Because of what you did
Again Beginning of the passage All of you
You are getting it because of your performance
Good job And the companions of paradise Will
call out to the people of fire And
Our hypothesis came true Our hypothesis came true
But how Allah promised us has been fulfilled
So did you also find What your Allah
promised you to be true They will say
yes But of course that is what they
are saying In Jahannam In dunya they were
like no no no Make no sense Not
for us Not enough evidence He is up
to no good He wants to do this
for power He wants to do this for
women He wants to do this for money
No good So there they are The threats
that we had received They have come true
So A caller will call from among them
Or between them That Allah's curse be on
those who were unjust They went on the
wrong side What they believed in Was oppressive
Those who obstruct people From the path of
Allah And The straight path That Allah puts
down Is made convoluted Is made complicated More
and more unnecessarily difficult It is lost In
the muddiness of the water They have fabricated
To make it seem deep They are disbelievers
of the hereafter Between them there will be
a barrier But on top of the barrier
There will be some people Who will recognize
all by their faces So it is not
Jahannam and Jannah These are not These black
and white realities We know From experience and
from these ayats That realities in human beings
are far more complicated Even within the levels
of Jannah We see that Between Jannah and
Jahannam We see that There will be people
Who will recognize By their faces And they
will call out To the people of paradise
They have not entered paradise But they hope
to And when their eyes are turned to
people of Jahannam People of hellfire They will
say Do not place us Among the people
of Zulm And those at the top of
the barrier Will call upon those Who they
recognize by their faces And say All the
wealth that you amassed All the arrogance that
you had It did not work out for
you It was of no benefit to you
Are these the people That you used to
say that Allah Will never bestow any mercy
upon them So they are adding fuel to
that Quite literal fire Look at those people
You never thought highly of them Look at
where they are And you thought so highly
of yourselves And your knowledge And your wealth
And your pomp Everything Where has that brought
you And so it will be
announced That the people of Jannah Will enter
paradise Having no fear Nor grief That is
the ultimate No fear, no grief This is
Surah Al-A'raf If we identify ourselves
With the people of Jannah And fail to
identify ourselves With the people of Jannah Then
that is a characteristic of the people of
Jannah That they never looked at Jannah As
a possibility for themselves If we look at
ourselves as the people of Jannah And not
identify at all with the people of Jannah
That in itself That self depreciation That self
labeling Is also a characteristic of the people
of Jannah That they thought of themselves To
be so lost, so bad That they are
like, okay, whatever Might as well live it
up now That is what bad does, let's
do bad then We'll see when hellfire comes
If it comes, we'll take care of ourselves
there We'll do what everybody else Of our
ilk does, did They can take it, we'll
take it It is who we are Again,
the message of the Surah Stay on the
Al-A'raf As far as your life
in dunya is concerned As far as your
life in this world is concerned As far
as you being the people of Quran Or
is concerned, stay on the Al-A'raf
Not the hopelessness Of being Jahannami Being hellbound
And not the arrogance Of being the people
of arrogance The humility of Al-A'raf
The humility of the people of Al-A
'raf That is a far better place to
be And to be honest If we really
do reflect on ourselves On our behaviors, on
our conduct On our goodness That we spread
around in the world We will find elements
of both We will find that which deserves
This and that We should find And we
should look to develop This probabilistic place Of
where we're headed Hopeful for Jannah Fearful of
fire Understanding both to be very real possibilities
And therefore Continuing the effort, continuing the process
Not letting up To be the people of
Al-A'raf Is the challenge Leaning one
way or the other And that leaning being
our perpetual state Is dangerous We want to
know Whenever we talk about hypocrisy Whenever we
talk about The dangerousness of self-deception The
importance of conviction and hope The question naturally
follows How do we really know?
How do we really, really know?
We can't really, really know We shouldn't really,
really know We can make educated guesses at
best As to where we're headed They will
waver in both directions Hazrat Umar did not
really, really know About where he's headed It
was open possibility for him Either way So
the people of Hellfire will call out To
the people of Paradise Asking them Can you
just give us some water Or something that
Allah has given you They will say Allah
has forbidden Both on disbelievers Those
for whom Their deen was Enjoyment and a
game They took religion They did not take
religion seriously They did not take How they
were supposed to live their lives Seriously It
was, and then in itself Pleasure for its
own sake Immediate gratification Or just the right
amount delayed for Gratification just here And just
for themselves An activity that is done for
its own sake And that was most of
their lives That became their religion That became
their religion We are inherently religious people The
most atheistic of us Have this undeniable religious
side This theology That underpins all our conceptions
It can be a negative theology In so
many different ways But the theology nevertheless You
take it as a joke As inconsequential As
something not to be taken seriously Essentially our
actions in this world Are a reflection of
what we understand Or who we understand God
to be And even those who say that
there is no God That in itself Whatever
is usually attributed to God Whatever it is
that they attribute that to And what they
believe of that Whether it's laws of nature
Or reality with a capital R Or whatever
You will find that their Behavior upon analysis
Betrays itself to be in line With that
hidden religiosity That unconscious religiosity And for a
lot of people who look at this world
As meaningless What does it mean that this
world is meaningless That this world is wherever
it came from It's a game It's inconsequential
And that reflects in their life As meaninglessness
They look at the world to be meaningless
They take their own life meaninglessly Because they
think that God Or wherever this world came
from Is playing a prank Is playing a
joke Is playing around It's a big game
It's a big meaningless game It's a puppet
show And so that's what God does Or
laws of nature do Or whatever blind chance
does Is what we do Play For them
God's sunnah Quote unquote God Is playing Meaninglessness
That's who God is to them And so
that is reflected in their lifestyle That is
their expression of their Unconscious religiosity Life of
this world They refused to be The best
they could make out of the ayahs They
refused that they weren't the ayahs They were
meaningless Meaningless And
so today we will ignore them As they
ignored this day of theirs And a lot
of other places that says This day of
ours which is what I almost said.
The day of judgment, Allah says, this is
our day.
And in other places, this is your day.
Again, the collaborative dimensions.
We will ignore them.
We will forget them the way they forgot
us.
What does it mean to take the life
of this world as an end all, as
a game, as a best play?
There is no akhir, ultimate meaninglessness.
It doesn't matter.
And so if it doesn't matter, if it
didn't matter to them the entirety of their
lives, they're not gonna matter to us the
entirety of the afterlife.
It's just the continuation of their own logic.
If the world was meaningless and insignificant and
just playing games, fair enough, they will be
insignificant on the day of judgment and will
be played with in the fire.
Ignored.
Wa maa kaanu bi-aayatina yajhadoon.
The way they used to deny our ayaat.
Wa laqad ji'naahu bi-kitabin fassalnaahu alaa
ilmin.
So we have brought them a book explaining
everything based on knowledge.
Hudan wa rahmatan li qawmi yu'minoona.
Guidance and a mercy to the believing people.
khal yamduroona illa ta'weelah.
So waiting for its fulfillment, the fulfillment of
the ta'weel of the book, the day
of judgment, the punishment, the adhaab, the victory
of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Yawma ya'ti ta'weeluhu, the day its fulfillment
will actually come.
Yaqulul ladheena nasuhum in qadr.
Those who ignored it earlier or had forgotten
it earlier will say, qad ja'at rusul
rabbina bilhaq.
That the messengers of Allah, Rabb, promised the
truth, the regret in this proclamation.
Rabb, al-haq.
Rusul, ahallana, that they brought what was good
for us, what Allah, Rabb, wanted us to
hear.
They were messengers of carrying love letters from
Allah, Rabb, who wanted, out of his affection
and concern for us, to respond.
Fahallana min shufa'a fa yashfa'u lana.
So are there any intercessors who will intercede
for us?
Aw nuraddu fana'mal ghayra allathee kunna na'mal.
Or could we be sent back so that
we can do other than what we used
to do?
But they have lost, they failed themselves.
They have failed themselves, their own selves, their
own potential, their own, what Rabb saw, what
the Rusul tried to tell them, but what
the ayat were pointing them toward, but no.
They refused to acknowledge the arrogance that doesn't
let a person see the capacity for good
that they themselves have, the greater capacity.
They just wanted to be accepted for who
they were.
And so they couldn't become who they were
capable of.
Wadalla'an huma kanoo yaftaloona.
Whatever they invented, the fabrications, it has deserted
them.
It has left them.
Inna rabbakumu allathee khalaqa as-samawati wal-ubaa
fee sithati ayaam.
Your Rabb is the one who created the
heavens and the earth in six days.
Thumma istaba'a alal-arsh.
Then he firmly established himself over the throne.
Yugsh al-layla al-nahar.
He covers the night with the day.
Yathulubuhu hatheetha.
Another one chasing it rapidly.
The cycle of the day and night.
Washamsa wal-qumara wal-nujuma musakharatim li-amri.
The sun and the moon and the stars
have been made subservient with his directive purpose,
or with his purposeful directive, with his meaningful
command.
Alalahu al-khalqu wal-amr.
Unquestionably, to him alone belong the creation, the
khalq and the amr, the purposeful directive.
What we see in the world around us,
particularly in the material world, what the material
world depicts in terms of regular patterns that
repeat themselves over time, and time being essentially
mentioned with reference to khalq, fitbat-e-ayam,
six days.
Obviously, these are not days of our calculation,
24 hours, but nevertheless, some period of time,
some reality of time.
The manifestation of patterns, of patterned behavior, over
time, these habits of Allah, they constitute the
khalq that we are able to appreciate, see,
study, even control, make predictions from, and
therefore invent this incredibly important dimension of the
creation of Allah.
And then this other dimension, that of amr,
that of amr that is usually brought in
with respect to the kun fayakoon, that whenever
the usual patterns, even the usual patterns themselves,
as they came into existence, as they were
brought into existence, the amr was instrumental in
bringing them about.
But once they have been brought about, then
they're pretty much operating as those habits, as
those patterns, carrying within themselves that direction that
they were intended for.
So they are producing the results that they
were supposed to, that were necessary for the
progression of Allah's creation in a particular direction.
Evolution is not directionless.
The development of humanity is not directionless.
It is directed, it is purposeful.
The amr of Allah, the command of Allah
is meaningful.
And how that meaningful command of Allah intervenes
and wherever and however necessary to nudge the
creation back in to where it's supposed to
go.
And also it is permeating the khalq.
It is running through and through the khalq
that the khalq of Allah depicts the purpose
of Allah, depicts the meaningfulness made inherent in
it by Allah.
And how the meaningful directive of Allah is,
it eventually takes the form of these patterned
behaviors or these patterned habits that we see
around us in the world itself.
This world around us, within us, being a
reflection of both the khalq and the amr,
that when we look at it, we observe
not only the pattern, but also its teleological
end, its purpose, that which holds it together.
That's what gives it a unity.
That which demands of human beings to be
meaningful as well.
The amr of Allah, the immaterial amr, the
abstract amr, but very real, not seen the
way the material world is seen, but always
inferred, always believed in from reflecting
over what is seen, the seeing, the reflecting.
And then within that reflection, amr plays a
part as well.
Those intuitive experiences, that nudge of the infinite
possibilities towards the possibility of meaningfulness, purposefulness, as
it comes, originates from the divine, from Allah
himself.
And this interplay between khalq and amr in
the world around us and in our own
lives, you look at only khalq and it
doesn't make sense.
It misleads on love and la'ad, and
it's meaningless.
Khalq should lead for us to understand amr.
If it leads for us to understand amr
and that amr makes us deny the khalq
altogether, so that it's all about spirituality.
It is about a rejection of material altogether.
It is about isolating oneself and committing oneself
to more esoteric understandings, more ineffable,
inarticulable, dedications and commitments, which demand an
absolute disconnection from the world or just taking
the world to the bare minimum.
Either way, either extremes take away essential aspects
of the rububiyah of Allah.
Tabarakallahu rabbul alameen.
Blessed is Allah, the Rabb of the alameen,
one alam of khalq and one alam of
amr.
And how these both alams, they inundate and
they are pervasive in all the alameen, in
all of what we see in the physical
world and the biological world, especially in the
human world.
Especially in the interaction of how the physical,
biological, human is organized into a unity, the
amr holds it together.
The amr brings it together.
The amr leads to that meaningful interaction between
all of them towards something outside of this,
something beyond this, something more than this, something
essentially self-transcending, but also self-maintaining.
That there is no transcendence without, you cannot
be living for the other without sustaining yourself.
But living for the other, for outside, for
that which is transcendent as to how it
strengthens the self, gives life to the self.
How amr gives life to the khalq.
And khalq is a manifestation and expression of
the life of the amr, spirit and body,
but not in the typical Asper-like dualistic
sense that we usually understand spirit and body.
It is far more intricately intertwined.
TabarakAllahu rabbul alameen.
A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem.
Uda'oo rabbakum tabarroo'an wa khuffiya.
So call on your Rabb with humility and
in secret.
Now the reflection or manifestation of that, of
placing yourself in that a'araaf position would
be this humility, would be this desperation that
is expressed primarily in secret before Allah.
Innahu laa yuhibbul mu'tadeen.
Allah does not like the transgressors.
Recognizing him to be that lahul khalqu wal
amr and then recognizing your own position as
uncertain, paradise or *, guided or misguided.
How it reflects in dua, the humility in
secret as it is expressed.
Of course, in terms of actions, the conviction
should be apparent as well.
It should not be a humility that leads
to inaction.
That was not the humility of the Sahaba
radiAllahu ta'ala.
As much as humility as they expressed in
tahajjud, in dua and before Allah in their
tears, you would not find that when they're
khursanun bin nahaq, when they're horse riders during
the day.
wa laa tuksidoo fil ardi ba'da islaahiha and
do not create corruption on earth after its
reform.
wa da'ooohoo khawthoon wa ta'maa and call
on him with fear and hope.
Again, the balance of the people of a
'araaf.
inna rahmatallahi qareebun minal muhsineen For sure, the
mercy of Allah is close to the people
of ihsan.
One would think that this humility, for it
to express itself in the form of ihsan,
it's wrap your heads around that.
Because as far as our experience goes of
what we usually see, the activism that results
from belligerent certainty, that cultish activism that needs,
demands 100% certitude, that's when it speaks,
it claims 100% certitude.
It advocates 100% certitude.
It presents all reality or all truth as
within its own possession and everything outside of
it or against it as absolutely wrong.
The passion and zeal that come from that
and how that manifests itself in this unstoppable
action, which is stopped only in a matter
of time as the fuel runs out and
the reality shows itself for how it's not
that straightforward.
But nevertheless, a more mature commitment to ihsan,
to an attitude and conduct of ihsan and
it's emanating from this place of humility, this
place of unsurety, hope represented by khawf and
tama'a, fear and hope.
Wa huwa allathee yursidu alriyaaha bushran bayna yaday
rahmatih He is the one who sends down
winds as herald of his mercy, his mercy
in the form of rain.
Fatta itha aqallat sahab intiqalan Until they lift
up heavy clouds suqnaahu li baladi mayyit We
drive it along to a dead land fa
anzalna bihi almaa And then we send down
water from it.
fa akharajna bihi min kulli istamarat And thereby
bring forth fruits of all type.
How this rain of Allah is capable of
bringing dead earth to life.
How the ayat of Allah are capable of
bringing dead hearts to life.
kithalika nukhrijul mawta la'allakum tadhakka And that
is how we bring forth the dead, perhaps
you will remember.
In the afterlife, spiritually in this life, take
the ayat of Allah seriously and see what
life comes out of it, what fruits come
out of it, palpable, tasteable.
walbaladu tajjibu yakhruju nabatuhu bi izni rabbihi As
for the fertile land, its vegetation comes out
with the permission of its Rabb.
walladhi khabusa la yakhruju illa nakida And as
for the barren one, it comes out but
poorly.
It's the same rain, the same ayats.
When they fall in the heart of Abu
Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu the world changes
for the better.
When it falls in the heart of Abu
Jahl, nothing comes out except pain and torture.
kithalika nasarrifu al-ayati liqawmi yashkuroon And so
we thoroughly explain the signs for a grateful
people.
What is the difference?
Gratitude.
laqad arsalna noohan illa qawmihi So we sent
Noah to his people.
Now, the Surah turns to Anba'u Ar
-Rasul.
There is a difference in Nabi and Rasul.
And there's different ways of looking at those
differences.
But the one that we're going with in
this particular reading is Rasul are those
sent...
All Rasul are Anbiya.
But all Anbiya are not necessarily Rasul, okay?
Rasul are sent with a mission to a
particular people, refusal of which mandates an Adhab
of Allah.
When a Rasul is rejected, then there is
going to be punishment.
What a Rasul comes with demands a response.
The first Rasul, as we find being mentioned,
is Nuh Alayhi Salaam.
And so the story begins with him.
laqad arsalna noohan illa qawmihi And so we
sent Nuh to his people.
faqala ya qawmihi And he said, my people,
oobudullah, enter into the Ibadah of Allah.
ma lakum min ilahin ghayru You do not
have an Ilah other than Him.
inni akhafu alaykum adhaba yawmin azeem I fear
for you the punishment of a big day.
qala almalau min qawmihi The leaders of the
community said, inna lana raaka fee dhalala mubeen
We see that you are definitely lost.
qala ya qawmi laysa bee dhalala He said,
my people, I'm not lost.
walakinni rasoolu mirrab bilAAalameen Rather, I am a
messenger of the Rabb of the world.
ooballikukum risalati rabbi I convey to you the
message of my Rabb.
waansahu lakum And I am giving you my
sincere advice.
waAAalamu min Allahi maa laa taAAalamuna And I
know from Allah what you do not know.
awaAAajibtum an jaaakum dhikrum mirrabikum wa laa rajulim
minkum Do you wonder that a reminder from
your Rabb comes to you through a man
from among you?
liyunzirakum So that he may warn you.
walitattaqu And that you may attain taqwa.
walaAAalakum turhamun And perhaps you may be treated
mercifully.
fakathabuhu But they denied him.
faanjaynaahu wallatheena maAAahu filfulki And so we saved
him and those with him in the ship.
waaaghraqna allatheena kathabu bi aayaatina And we drowned
those who denied our ayaat.
innahum kaanu qawman AAameen They were definitely blind
people.
They could not see the ayaat of Allah.
And so they're as good as blind.
This pattern, rasool brings the ayaat of Allah.
People reject those ayaat.
They are met with the punishment of Allah.
That's the habit of Allah.
wa ilaAAadin akhaahum huda And so from Nuh
Alayhi Salaam's progeny, from those that remained with
Nuh Alayhi Salaam, came the personality of Ad,
after whom a nation is built.
And from them, their brotherhood, the prophet, the
rasool of Allah, is sent or is chosen.
Allah.
He said, ya qawmiAAbudullah My people enter into
the ibadah of Allah.
ma lakum min ilaahin ghayruh There is no
one worthy of being an ilaah other than
him.
afalaatat taqoon So will you not attain to
taqwa or will you not save yourselves?
qaala almalau allatheena kafaru min qawmihi The leaders
of the disbelievers from his people said, inna
lana raaka fee safaha We think you are
crazy.
So the first label that Nuh Alayhi Salaam
was given was misled, way off track, lost.
Huda Alayhi Salaam is told to or is
accused of being crazy.
Again, we see with Rasool Allah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam all of these labels are alternate, are
alternated.
They're used in turn one after the other.
wa inna lana zunnuka minal kadhibeen And we
think you are lying.
qaala ya qawmi laisa fee safaha He said,
my people, I'm not crazy.
walakinni rasoolun min rabbil alameen Rather, I am
the Rasool of the Rabb of the alameen.
uballighukum risalati rabbi I proclaim to you the
messages of my Rabb and bring to you
the messages of my Rabb.
wa ana lakum nasihun ameen And I am
a trustworthy advisor to you.
I have your best interest in heart.
awa ajibtu man jaakum dhikrun min rabbikum ala
rajuli minkum So does it, you find it
very surprising.
It's a wonder for you that a reminder
from your Rabb comes to you through a
man from among you, liyunzirakum, in order to
warn you.
wadhkuru ith jaalakum khulafa'a min ba'di qawmin
You remember when you, when Allah made you
successors, khulafa'a, after the people of Nuh.
wazadakum filqalqi basfah And he increased you, gave
you in stature and strength.
fadkuru ala Allah la'allakum tuffrihun So remember
the blessings of Allah so that you may
succeed.
qalu wajitana lina'budallaha wahda And they said,
have you come to us that we worship
Allah alone?
wa nathara ma kana ya'budu aba'una
And leave what our forefathers used to worship.
fa'tina bima ta'iduna So bring it, bring
it, bring whatever it is that you're threatening
us with.
in kunta min asadiqeen If you really are
true.
qala qad waqa'a alaykum min rabbikum rijtun
wa ghadab Hud alayhis salaam responded that there
has fallen upon you already a defilement and
a wrath from your Rabb.
hatujadhiluna neefi asma'in samaytumuha antum wa aba
'ukum What are you calling for?
Hadhab has happened and you added to the
way you're talking and what you're saying to
the Rasul of Allah.
It is Allah's defilement.
It has already, his wrath is already upon
you.
Are you arguing with me?
fi asma'in samaytumuha antum wa aba'ukum
About mere names that you and your forefathers
have invented?
They have no truth to them.
You have no evidence for them.
ma nazalallahu biha min sultaan Allah has not
sent any authority, any sanction for them.
fan tathiru So then go on, wait.
inni maAAakum minal muntathireen I am waiting with
you.
fa'in jaynaahu wa allatheena maAAahu bi rahmatin
minna So we saved him along with those
with him out of our mercy.
waqataAAana daabirallatheena kaththabu bi aayatina And we cut
off the roots of those who denied our
revelations.
wa maa kanu mu'mineen And they were not
to believe.
wa ila thamud aakhawmin saaliha And towards Thamud,
their brother Salih was sent.
qala He said, ya qawm i'budullah My
people, enter into the ibadah of Allah.
ma lakum min ilaahin ghayru You have no
other ilah other than him.
qad ja'atkum bayjinatum min rabbikum A clear
bayjina, clear sign from your Rabb has come
to you.
hadhihi naqatullahi lakum aayah This is the she
-camel of Allah, has a sign for you.
fatharooha ta'kul fee arbi Allah Leave it
alone, let it pasture in the land of
Allah.
wala tamassuha bisu'in Do not harm her
in any way.
faya'khuthakum a'zabun aleem Lest a punishment,
a painful punishment, lest you incur a painful
punishment.
wadhkuru ith ja'alakum khulafa'an min ba'di
aad And remember, when Allah made you successors,
replacing aad, you became the khulafa after aad.
wabawwa'akum fil aad And establish you on
earth.
tatakhidhoona min suhooliha qusura You take for yourselves
places in its plains, palaces rather, palaces in
its plains.
wadhanhitoona aljibala buyuta And you carve houses in
the mountains.
Interestingly, because what took out aad were, their
houses were turned upside down.
Whatever calamities that afflicted them, the hurricanes that
just destroyed everything that they were living in.
So these particular people have made very strong
houses in mountains themselves.
wadhkuru aala Allah So remember the blessings of
Allah.
wala ta'thaw fil ardhi mufsidheen And do
not act wickedly on earth, creating corruption, spreading
corruption.
qaala almalawul ladheena istakbaroo min qawmihi The arrogant
leaders of his people said, istakbak, somebody desiring
greatness.
Arrogant.
lillatheena istudh'ifoo liman aamana minhum They said
to the oppressed ones, the weak ones, who
had come to believe, aata'alamuna anna saalihan
mursalun min rabbih Do you really know that
Salih is a messenger from your Rabb?
qaalu inna bimaa ursila bihi mu'minoon They responded,
of course, we believe in what he has
brought.
qaala allatheena istakbaroo And the ones who were
arrogant, they responded, inna billathee amantoon bihi kaafiroon
We definitely disbelieve in whatever it is that
you believe in.
faaqarunnaa qah And so they hamstrung the she
-camel.
wa'atawu AAan amri rabbihim And they rebelled
against the command of Allah, of their Rabb.
faaqalu yaa saalihoo itinaa bimaa taAAidunaan And then
they said, Salih, bring us whatever it is
that you're threatening us with.
Allah's ayat come with some demands.
The single ayah that that she-camel was,
came with certain requirements that had to be
fulfilled, that they refused to, that were too
much of a burden on them.
And so they got rid of the camel
altogether.
They hamstrung the ayah of Allah.
faaqadathumul rajfah So the earthquake seized them.
faasbahoo fee daarihim jaathimeen And so they became
corpses lying prostrate in their homes, lying upside
down in their homes.
It is not difficult for Allah to turn
that which is life-giving into that which
takes away life.
So wind, it's life-giving.
It brings rain.
It spreads life, pollen.
But then as for Aad, he destroyed them.
The earth is protection.
The earth gives you a place to live.
But then that same earth quakes.
And what they had been able to make
of the earth in the strong houses, within
mountains, that they were able to carve out
for themselves.
Then that became their graves.
fatawalla anhum waqal So he turned away from
them and said, ya qawmi laqad ablaghtukum risalata
rabbi My people, I conveyed to you the
message of my Rabb.
wa nasahtulakum And I advised you.
So the image that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
is getting again at the end of Mecca
is the Prophet looking back at his destroyed
people and the people that have.
When the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, shayyibatni
hudun wa afawatuha He identifies Surah Hud and
its sisters.
And he says, they've made my hair turn
gray.
They have worried me so much.
Because repeatedly in these Surahs, the prospect of
his people being afflicted with punishment and being
possibly wiped out is repeatedly presented.
The image of Hud Alayhis Salaam standing on
a destroyed nation, which was his nation, which
was where he came from, which towards whom
he was very committed, dedicated, had their best
interest at heart.
And now he's grieving over them.
walaki latuhibboona an-naasihin But you don't like
those who advise you.
No one likes to be told that what
they're doing was wrong in any way.
And so there is a natural reactionary resentment.
It is what it is.
They just chose not to get out of
that situation despite being that what was being
presented to them was from the best of
places.
walootan idh qala liqawmiha Now we see Nuh,
Hud, and Saleh.
Three prophets being mentioned.
Three Abrahamic, before Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.
The primary area for concern for all of
these, all of these people and all of
the prophets sent to them is shirk.
shirk.
And what they bring is tawheed, a proclamation
of their prophethood and the punishment of Allah
being in the form of the adhab al
-dunya and then akhira.
Simple message.
With Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam, there is a very
critical juncture in the history of humanity.
With Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam, society now, human society
is more intricately wound, more interdependent than it
ever was before.
In the tribal pre-Abrahamic world, the way
people lived, the way people depended on each
other was not as tightly strung as it
became within the time of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam.
So now all the post-Abrahamic prophets that
we'll talk about, starting with Lut Alayhis Salaam,
who was the nephew of Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam,
we will find that tawheed is accompanied by
an element of social concern.
And we will see that progressively with each
prophet.
The first of them, Lut.
wal-lupan ithqala liqawmihim.
So Lut, when he said to his people,
ata'toon al-fahisha.
So do you commit immoralities?
mas-sabaqakum biha min ahadim min al-'almeen.
Which nobody has ever committed before you in
the whole of creation.
innakum lata'toon ar-rijala shahwatan min doon an
-nisaa.
You satisfy your lusts with men instead of
women.
So to the complete homosexual interests, exploits, actions,
to the complete exclusion and neglect of women.
bal antum qawmum musrifoon.
You are a people who have crossed the
limit.
wa maa kana jababa qawmihi illa anqalu.
His people had no answer except to say,
akhrijoohum min qariyatikum.
Expel them from your own town.
innahum unasun yata'taharoon.
These people want to be pure.
So with the people of Lut, we find
this cult of pleasure expressing itself in the
form of this unbridled homosexuality and the social
consequences thereof plain for everyone to see.
So his proclamation of Tawheed is not just
restricted to a prohibition of shirk.
It extends to that which is a huge
social concern.
fa-anjaynaahu wa-ahlahu.
And so we saved him and his family,
illa mra'atah, except his wife.
kaanat min al-fawabireen.
She was of those who remained behind.
So as we get to know, she was
very complicit with these people in their homosexual
activities in providing them or facilitating them in
whatever way.
wa-antarna AAalayhim mataraan.
So we showered a rain, a rain of
stones, as we read in other parts of
the Quran upon them.
thandul kayfa kaana AAaqibatul mujrimeen.
So see how was the end of the
criminals.
wa-ila madiyanaa akhaahum shuAAiba.
And to Madian, their brother Shu'aib.
What we see in the form of the
cult of pleasure, with the people of Lut
AAalayhi As-Salaam, we see a cult of,
a cult of greed.
Greed in the form of wealth, unbridled pursuit
of money.
Business interactions, as they necessarily result in this
interdependency between people and open up the possibilities
of exploitation, cheating in business.
And the more economically advantaged you are, privileged
you are, the more likely or the greater
the possibility for you to take advantage of
those not as privileged.
And so the people of Shu'aib AAalayhi
As-Salaam, the people of Madian, very prosperous,
and on the basis of that prosperity are
cheating, exploiting others who are not so much.
Qala yaa qawmin.
So he said, my people, wa-ubudullaha maa
lakum min ilaahin ghayruh.
Enter into the ibadah of Allah.
You do not have anyone worthy of ibadah
other than Him.
qad ja'atku bayyinatu min rabbikum.
A clear sign from your Rabb has reached
you.
fa-awful kayla wal-mizan.
So deliver full measure and weight.
wa-la tabkhasu an-naasa ashyaa'ahum.
Do not deprive the people of their rights.
wa-la tufsidu fil-aldi ba'da islahiha.
Do not spread corruption in the land after
its reformation.
The reformation that comes in the form of
the adab of Allah for the previous nations.
thalikum khayrun lakum in kuntum mu'mineen.
That is better for you if you should
be believers.
wa-la taqrudu bikulli siratin tu'idun.
And do not sit in on every path
threateningly.
wa-ta-sudduna an-sabilillahi man aamana bihi.
And avert people from the way of Allah,
those who believe in Him.
Again, qad al-fakroo yakoonu kufra.
There's one way of holding people away from
the way of Allah is, of course, whatever
theological arguments you present and doubts that you
look to create in the face of the
Prophet and the ayat that the Prophet is
bringing.
And then literally threaten people for not to
ensure that they don't follow that Prophet.
That's one way of holding people back from
the way of Allah.
But then a more economic way of holding
people back from the way of Allah.
That to the threat of poverty, it becomes
such a reality that considerations of iman, what
considerations of iman?
When we barely have enough food to eat,
we have to bend over backwards just to
provide for our families.
You wanna talk to us about God?
Any talk of God in that particular situation,
when that basic need is not fulfilled, when
that basic security is not provided, is very
likely to backfire.
And so Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam affirms that
poverty can lead to kufra.
And so to ensure, and we see that
in the du'a of Ibrahim Alayhi Salam
as well.
And he prays for Mecca, he prays for
prosperity.
He prays for these people to, and we
know Ibrahim is not a, Alayhi Salam, he's
not a escapist.
His du'a is by no means escapist.
The legacy that he leaves in his children
is such that we see those children.
And turn Mecca, a barren desert, into the
hub of economic activity.
It is incredible.
You read the Seerah of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam and all the ancestors of Rasulullah, all
the descendants of Ismail Alayhi Salam, what they
did and all of what they were able
to achieve to ensure that Mecca becomes this
place of prosperity, this place of security.
Each ancestor of Rasulullah that you find mentioned
in books of Seerah will have played a
significant role in one of two things, either
the peace of Mecca or the prosperity of
Mecca.
Again, the fulfillment of the legacy of Ibrahim
Alayhi Salam in different ways.
In any case, here we see this, fasuddoon
AAan sabeelillah, averting people from the way of
Allah by this economic exploitation.
And of course, they're opposing the Prophet.
wataabghoonaha AAibaja wadhkuroo ith kuntum qaleelan fakatharakum So
remember when you were little, when you were
small in number and Allah multiplied you.
wanthroo kayfa kaana aqabatul mufsideena See what was
the fate of those who were corrupt before
you.
wa in kaana ta'ifatum minkum aamanu billathee
ursiltu bihee And if a group of you
has believed in that which I have been
sent with, wa ta'ifatun lam yu'minoon There
is another who hasn't.
So one thing we do see with each
Prophet progressively, the response seems to be somewhat
better with each subsequent Prophet.
It was very deplorable when it came to
Nuh AAalayhis salaam, but then it seems to
be getting better at least with respect to
Shu'aib AAalayhis salaam.
fasbiroo hattayahkumallahu baynana So wait patiently until Allah
decides between us.
wahuwa khayrul haakeemeen And he is the best
of all judges.
qaalal mal'oo allatheena istakbaroo min qawmihee And
the leaders of the arrogant ones, those seeking
the greatness from his people, this istakbar continues
across the board.
This urge for superiority in whatever way that
sticks.
They say to their people, la nukhrijannaka yaa
Shu'aibu wallatheena aamanu maaka min qarriyatina Shu
'aib, we will expel you, exile you.
And those with you out of our town.
awla ta'udunna fee millatina Or you will
have to come back to our ways.
Again, this was echoed by the people of
Quraysh with respect to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
and the Sahaba.
qaala walaw kunna kaariheena And he replied, even
if we hate it, are you going to
look to do that?
Are you going to compel us to come
back to that which we detest?
qad iftarayna alallahi kathiban in'uddana min fee
millatikum We would have been inventing a lie
against Allah if we revert to your ways.
ba'da idhnajjanallahu minha After Allah has rescued us
from it.
wa maa yakunu lana anna'ooda feeha illa
in yasha'allahu rabbuna It is not for
us to revert to it except if Allah,
our Rabb, wills.
wasi'a rabbuna kulla shay'in ilma Our
Rabb encompasses everything in knowledge.
alallahi tawakkalna On Allah we have relied.
rabbanaftaah bainana wa baina qawmina bilhaq And so
our Rabb decide between us and our people
with truth, with justice.
wa anta khayru alfateheena And you're the best
of judges.
ma qaala almalaw allatheena kafaru man qawmihi And
the leaders of those who disbelieve from among
his people said, layan ittaba'atum shu'ayban
If you follow Shu'ayb, so this is
their message that goes out to the masses.
If you follow Shu'ayb, innakum ithal la
khasirun then you would be losers.
So there seems to be khasara, this profit
and loss is the ultimate standard in that
particular society.
And so the threats are in that language
as well.
And we can see, and we can read
into these ayat that the way the Quraysh
were with the Sahaba and Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam, the social boycott that took place.
It was a refusal to engage in business
with anyone who had responded to Rasulullah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam and become Muslim.
The boycott that lasted three years, particularly there
was a general economic difficulty that every Muslim
had to face from day one, but then
there was that particular social boycott, the treaty
that was signed, that the valley of Banu
Hashim that all of the Banu Hashim had
to live in, this economic stifling that was
done.
Fa akhadathum arrajfatu fa asbahu fi daarihim jathimin
So the earthquake seized them and they became
corpses lying upside down in their houses.
Allatheena kadhabu shu'aibah Those who denied Shu
'aib, ka'alnam yaghnau theeha They became as
if they never lived there.
Allatheena kadhabu shu'aibah Those who denied Shu
'aib, kaanoohumul khasireen They were the losers.
At the end of the day, you talk
about profit and loss, they lost.
They incurred the greatest loss.
Fathawalla anhum waqal Then he left them and
said, Ya qawmin laqad ablaghtukum risalati rabbi wa
nasqatulakum My people, I conveyed to you the
message of my Rabb and I advised you.
Fa kayfa asaa ala qawmin kafireen How can
I feel sorrow for a nation of disbelievers?
Again, the Rasul reassuring
himself, looking back at his people and telling
himself, no, they don't deserve this sorrow.
They don't deserve this grief.
Wama arsalna fee qaryatim min nabijin We never
sent a prophet to a town illa akhadna
ahlaha except that we afflicted its residents bil
ba'sa'i wabdarra with tribulations and adversity.
With minor strokes, small titty-bitty calamities here
and there.
Not the big punishment that wipes them out,
but little ones here and there, just to
put them in place.
la'allahum yabdarra'un So that they may
become humble.
So that this aura of invincibility, this delusion
that they have of their strength, their power,
it's shaken up.
fuma baddalna makana saji'atil hasana Then we
replace the adversity with good.
If they refuse to be shaken up, if
they refuse to humble themselves, if that experience
does not lead for them to reflect, then
prosperity, more and more prosperity.
hatta'afawu waqalu qad masa'aba'ana ddarra
'u wassarra Until they grew so affluent and
said, there was a time when tribulation and
adversity affected our forefathers.
It becomes so much of a distant memory
for them.
fa'akhadna'hum baghdahaan Then we seized them
all of a sudden.
wahum la yash'u'un And they had
no idea.
They were completely taken by shock.
walawanna ahlal qura'a amanu wattaqoom And if
the people of the town had believed and
observed this taqwa, so they started taking this
taqwa of Allah seriously, lafata'ahna AAalayhim barakaatim
minassama'i wal-ard We would have opened
up for them the blessings from the sky
and from the earth.
walakin taddhafu fa'akhadna'hum bimaa kaanu yaksibu
But they denied the truth.
So we seized them on account of what
they had done.
afa'amina ahlul qura'a So do the
people of this town feel secure, Mecca?
an ta'ti'ahum ba'suna bayatum wahum na'imum
That our punishment comes to them by night
when they are in deep sleep.
awa'amina ahlul qura'a in ya'ti'ahum
ba'suna buha'um wahum yal'aboon Or that
do the residents of this town feel secure
that a punishment comes to them in broad
daylight when they are playing around?
The commonality between both of these states, playing
around or sleeping, is that they are ghafil,
oblivious, deluded, into thinking that they're never going
to die or that they can't be taken
to task.
afa'aminu maqra'Allah Do they feel secure
of the plan of Allah?
fala ya'manu maqra'Allahi illal qawmul khasirun No
one feels secure of the plan of Allah.
Except a bunch of losers.
awa lam yahdi lil ladheena yarisoonal arda min
ma'di ahliya Has it not become clear to
those who inherited the earth after its former
occupants?
allawna shya'u asabna'hum bi dhunubihim Thus,
if we wanted, that if we wanted, we
can afflict them on account of their sins.
You see it every time.
Or at least most of the times when
you sin, something of it comes back to
you.
Something, you either feel it in their form
of conscience, if that is still alive, or
the effects that it has in the world
around you.
wa ya'fuwan kathir He would let a
lot of it go, but he will let
you taste a lot of it as well.
wanathba'u ala qulubihim And we seal their
hearts.
fahum la yasma'oon So that they do
not hear.
That is probably the more insidious of the
punishments of Allah.
The calamities, all of that, that's, you know,
that's a punishment.
The people of those nations faced it.
But when the heart is sealed, the way
that operates, that's dangerous.
That's a calamity before any obvious calamity.
That's something that happens before death.
So we have time until death, but not
really.
What if long before that death, the sealing
of the heart has already taken place or
already takes place.
So if the urgency to take these things
seriously is being put off, is being procrastinated
for the security that we feel of our
youth and our health, then perhaps the death
of our heart, the imminent death of our
heart, the possible death of our heart, should
be a greater inspiration for that urgency.
thilqal quraana qusoo AAalayka min anbaa'iha These
are the towns, the stories of which we
relate to you.
wa laqad ja'atuhum rusuluhum bil bayyinat For
sure their messengers had brought them clear signs.
famaa kaanoo liyoo'minoo bimaa kadhdaboo min qabla But
they were not going to believe in what
they had already denied.
yadhalika yathba'oo Allahu AAalaa quloobil kaafireen And
that is how Allah seals the hearts of
the disbelievers.
What makes us think that we can continue
the same pattern of behavior and not taste
the same response, eat the same poison and
yet not die.
wa ma wajadna liaktharihim min ahdin We did
not find most of them true to any
covenant.
They did not live up to their word.
wa in wajadna aaktharahum lafasaqeen Indeed, we found
most of them defiantly disobedient.
wa man baAAatna min baAAadihim moosa biAAayatina And
so after them, we sent Moosa with our
ayat, the third of the post-Abrahamic prophets.
Three pre-Abraham, three post-Abraham, AAalayhis salaam.
With Luke AAalayhis salaam, we saw the cult
of pleasure.
We saw homosexuality and what it was doing
to that society, along with shirk.
With Shu'ayb AAalayhis salaam, we saw this
economic corruption, this cult of greed.
And so Shu'ayb AAalayhis salaam's message of
tawheed incorporated that social evil that the biggest,
most influential people of the society were guilty
of.
With Moosa AAalayhis salaam, and then there's two
chapters, or three chapters in the story of
Moosa AAalayhis salaam.
The middle chapter of his story, the one
that deals with his interaction with Fir'aun,
the magicians, and then taking Bani Israel, that
deals with the cult of power, the political
strength of Fir'aun, the political shirk as
it was manifesting itself, the dictatorial tyranny of
Fir'aun and the impact it was having
on the people.
That's what Moosa AAalayhis salaam has to contend
with.
His message of tawheed, his message necessarily includes
a nahiyan al-munkar and the greatest munkar
being the tyranny of Fir'aun.
So thumma ba'athna min ba'dihim Moosa bi
-ayatinaan.
So after them, we sent Moosa with our
ayat.
And also another reason for why Moosa AAalayhis
salaam's story is so elaborate, we said three
chapters, is because close to migration is when
these ayat are being revealed.
Pretty soon Rasulullah SAW and the Sahab are
going to be interacting with the Yahud and
the Bible, therefore, more closely, more closely than
ever before.
And so the more details they know of
Moosa, the better it is.
And then of course, Moosa AAalayhis salaam being
one of the more recent prophets, separated still
by a few centuries, nevertheless, one of the
more recent Rasul, who with whom Rasulullah identifies
with the most, that the stages of his
life, of his prophethood, there's a lot of
identification between that and what Rasulullah SAW has
to go through as well.
Moosa AAalayhis salaam had to deal, he had
a nation, he had a group of followers,
the way Rasulullah SAW did.
So there's so many dynamics that opened up
there in lessons, therefore, that the other prophets
really did not have that sort of a
following, who has to be able to be
as relatable in that particular context.
There weren't obviously any other contexts.
Fama ma'atna min ba'dihim Moosa bi-ayatina
ila fir'auna wa ma la'ihi Towards
Fir'aun and his leaders.
Fa ghulamu bihaa famdhur kayfa kana aqabatu almufsideen
But they wrongfully rejected him.
They oppressed, they, this injustice with which they
responded to the ayats that Moosa AAalayhis salaam
brought.
So see what was the fate of those
who were corrupt.
He'll always identify as along with their rejection,
there is some sort of fasaad.
There is some sort of fisq.
There is some sort of jurm that is
apparent, that they are guilty of.
Wa qala Moosa ya Fir'aunu inni rasoolu
min rabbil alameen Moosa said, Fir'aun, I
am the messenger of, from the Rabb of
all the world.
Aqeequn alaa allaa aqoola alallahi illal haqq Obligated
not to say about Allah except the truth.
Qad jeektukum bi bayjinatim min rabbikum I have
brought you a clear sign from your Rabb.
Fa arsil ma'i ya bani Israel So
send the bani Israel with me.
Qala in kuntajita bi aaya Fir'aun said,
if you really have brought some sign, fa
atee biha in kuntamin as-sadiqeen Bring it,
if you really are truthful.
Fa alqa asaah So he threw his staff.
Fa idhaa hiya thu'baanun mubeen And suddenly
it turned into a real serpent.
Wa nazaa yaba And he drove out his
hand.
Fa idhaa hiya baydaa'u linnadhireen And lo
and behold, it became white for all those
watching.
Qala almalau min qawmi Fir'aun And the
leaders of the people of Fir'aun, the
leaders of Fir'aun said, of Fir'aun's
people said, inna hadha la saahirun azeem This
is great magic.
He is a very well-versed magician.
Yuridu ayn yuqa rijakum min qawmikum Fir'aun
said, you know what he wants?
He wants to drive you out of your
land.
He wants to expel you.
He wants to take this power away from
him.
The cult of power can only see, even
in the religious and spiritual, nothing but a
pursuit of power.
Thamaaza ta'muroon So what do you suggest?
Qalu arjih wa akhaa They said, for now,
put him and his brother off.
Ignore them.
Don't respond immediately.
Don't let the people think that this is,
this has really created the sort of urgency
that it has.
The more attention you give it, the more
importance you give him.
Put him off.
Wa arsil fil madha'ini haashiri And send
within all the towns, gatherers.
Ya'tooka bi kulli saahirin na'aleen To summon
for you every single skillful magician.
Wa ja'a al-sakharatu Fir'aun And
so the magicians came to Fir'aun.
Qalu inna lana la ajran in kunna nahnu
al-ghalibeen They said, we're going to have
a reward, right?
If we win.
Qala na'am Of course, he said.
Wa innakum la minal mukarrabeen And you will
be of those who are closest to me.
You will earn the proximity of the king.
Qalu ya Musa imaan tulqi So now it's
the day of the challenge.
Magicians say to Musa, will you throw first?
Wa imaan na kunna nahnu al-mulqeen Or
should we be the first to cast, first
ones to throw?
Qala alqu Musa said, throw.
You go first, your turn.
Falamma alqaw saharu a'yunan naas But when
they cast, when they threw, they bewitched the
eyes of the people.
Wastarhabuuhum And terrified them, intimidated them.
Wa ja'u bisikhlin azeem And they came
with a great magic.
Wa awhayna ila Musa an alqi asaak And
we inspired to Musa, bend or throw your
staff.
Fa idha hiya talqafu ma ya'thikoon And so
suddenly swallowed all of what their false illusions
were.
Fa waqaa al-haqq Thus the truth prevailed.
Fa batala ma kanu ya'madoon And all of
what they were doing was rendered vain.
Fa ghulibuhu nalika wanqalabu saghareen And so they
were defeated and stood humiliated there and then.
Wa ulqis sahwatu sajideen The magicians were flung
in prostration.
This was their skill.
This was their art.
This was their science.
They knew it the best, better than anybody
else there.
And when they saw what Musa had to
do, they knew that this has gone way
beyond the limits of our field.
This cannot be explicable, but with the understanding
that he is a prophet of God.
And so for them, it was their knowledge
of their field, their expertise led for them
to reflexively fall down in sajda.
It was undeniable for them.
Qalu amanna bi rabbil alameen They said, we
believe in the Rabb of the worlds.
Rabbi Musa wa Harun, the Rabb of Musa
and Harun, that qualifier is important because Fir
'aun is going around saying he's the Rabbil
alameen.
So Rabbi Musa wa Harun is an important
distinction to make.
Qala Fir'aun, Fir'aun shawrid amantum bihi
qabla na'athana lakum How dare you believe
before I have given you permission?
Inna hadha lamakru makartumuhu fil madina This is
a plan that you plotted in the town.
Li tukhriju minha ahlaha You want to get
rid of all of these poor people?
Exile them from their land?
How could you?
You're so evil.
Fasawfa ta'lamoon I will show you, you
will soon find out.
Law qatt'anna aydiyakum wa arjulakum min khilafin
I will cut your hands and feet off
in opposite directions.
Thumma law salibannakum ajma'in And now, who's
to file?
Qalu inna ila rabbina man qalibun They said,
towards our Rabb, we are going to return.
The response of the magicians to Musa alayhi
salam is described as reflexive wa ulqiya.
They were thrown into frustration.
They couldn't help it.
But now, this, what they're doing, this is
very deliberate.
This is very conscious.
In the face of all the threats that
have been made out, they're not going to
deny the religious experience that they just had
and seeing what they saw of what Musa
alayhi salam did.
Because it is very, a religious experience is
a very universal reality in different forms.
But to them, after having had it, taking
with it, that's iman.
That's the real belief when it comes in.
So, Firaun tries everything that he could, that
his cult of power allows for him to
do.
First, he fabricates this allegation, this propaganda, that
even though him and his cronies know, that
they're the ones who selected the magicians.
The magicians never knew Musa alayhi salam from
before.
But here he is.
And then, to make sure the real deterrent
for the people is the punishment, exemplary punishment
that he's going to make out of the
magicians, that they dare respond to Musa this
way.
Everyone is going to see what responding to
Musa looks like in the form of the
crucifixion of these rebels.
Rebels.
Qalu inna ila rabbina munqalibun.
They said, we are going to return to
our Rabb.
Wa ma tanqimu minna illa an aamanna bi
aayati rabbina lamma ja'atna.
And you want to retaliate?
You want to take us to task?
Because we believed in the aayat of our
Rabb when they reached.
Rabbana akhriq alayna sabra.
And again, the humility that they express, even
after having taken this stand, our Rabb, pour
onto us sabr.
Wa tawaqbana muslimeen.
And take us away as Muslim.
That whatever threat he is threatening us with,
do not let us waver.
Make us hold our ground.
Wa qala al-mal'u min qawm al
-fir'aun.
And the chiefs of the people of Fir
'aun said, ad-dadaru Musa wa qawmahu li
yufsidu fil-ard.
Are you going to let Musa and his
people free to create the mischief that they're
creating, the corruption?
The peace that you have been able to
establish after such hard work and commitment and
dedication to these people?
Musa and his people are destroying it.
Wa yadharaka wa alihatak.
And abandoning you and your gods.
He wasn't the only one.
There was a whole bunch of other gods
that he has as well.
Qalatun nuqaddilu abna'ahum wa nastahiyeen nisa'ahum.
He said, we're going to kill their sons
and spare their women.
That's how the cult of power responds.
Let's take away their power, their army, their
men.
Let's take that away from them.
Leave their women.
What are their women?
Why they say sons and not daughters?
They don't say spare daughter, they say spare
women.
They don't say kill their men and spare
their women.
Because for them, they don't look at the
daughters as daughters.
They look at them as women that they're
going to exploit.
Wa inna fawqahum qahiroon.
And we have power over them.
Qala Musa liqawmi ista'eenu billah.
Musa alayhi salam said to his people, seek
help from Allah.
Wasbiru and patiently persevere.
The prospect of having your children massacred is
what their commitment to Musa alayhi salam entails
now.
Musa says, ista'eenu billah.
Hang on to Allah.
Seek help from Allah.
Wasbiru, hold on very strongly.
Persevere, keep going.
Innal arda lillah.
The earth belongs to Allah.
Yurithu ha mayyasha'u min ibadihi.
He gives it to whoever he wills of
his ibad.
Wal aqibatu lil muttaqeen.
And ultimately, inheritance will be for the people
of taqwa.
The ultimate inheritance is going to be for
the people of taqwa.
Qalu udhina min qablin ta'dhina.
The people of Musa said to Musa, we
were being punished, persecuted, oppressed before you came
to us.
Wa min ba'di ma ji'tana.
And even after you have come to us.
What good did you bring us?
We were persecuted before, we're persecuted now.
Again, the response of one of the responses
or one of the reasons why a group
of believers becomes group of believers or affirms
faith is because they want, again, immediate gratification.
They want that inner peace or that power
or that wealth that this justification to faith
is going to bring.
That for them affirming Musa was inspired less
by faith in him and in Allah and
more by this resentment and this revenge that
they wanted from Firaun.
And when that demands of them work, when
they realize this testification to faith is no
tree of knowledge or no shajar-e-mumlu
'a that you just eat from and you're
wala, malik, angels or whatever.
Then they're like, what the, have we gotten
ourselves into?
This didn't work.
What is this?
Again, the Sahaba responding to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wa Sallam and the munafiqeen responding to Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Sallam.
And the munafiqeen saying, what this is, we
responded to you when we thought, tasr, qisr,
they're gems, jewels, wealth, power.
And here we are, we can't even go
to the bathroom.
And the Sahaba said, hatha ma wa'adam
Allahu wa Rasulullah.
This is what Allah and his messenger promised
us, struggle.
And so we're struggling.
Allah as'ala rabbukum an yuhlika adoofakum.
Musa Alayhi Salaam responded, it may well be,
it is very possible that your Rabb is
going to destroy your enemy.
That desire that you have, Allah gives it
validation.
It's coming from an understandable place.
wa yastakhlifakum fil-ard Allah can grant you
succession in the land.
fa yanzura kayfa ta'amalun So as to
see what you will then do, how you
are going to perform when that does happen.
wa laqad akhadna ala fir'awna bissinina wa
naqsim minath tamaraz And so we did afflict
Fir'aun's people with starvation and lack of
food.
So the habit of Allah as it manifests
itself with the Rasul and those rejecting the
Rasul, the minor punishments that come before the
major punishment.
So these were the minor punishments that Fir
'aun and his people went through.
la'allahum yaddakkarun So perhaps they may remember.
fa idha ja'atumul hasana And then whenever
the fortune or the good came to them,
alu'l zanaahal They would say, this is
ours.
wa yansusaybhum sayyi'ah But whenever a calamity
struck them, the minor punishment, ya'tayyabu bimusa waman
ma'a They would ascribe it as a
misfortune to Musa and his people.
This was because of them.
This is the bad luck that they bring.
ala innama ta'iruhum indallah Without a doubt,
their fortune, their luck, good or bad, is
with Allah.
walakinna aksarahum la ya'alamu But most of
them have no idea.
mukallumah ma ta'tina bihi min ayah And they
said to Musa, no matter what ayah you
bring to us, listasqarana biha In order to
bewitch us through it.
fama nakhnu laka bimumineen We are never going
to trust you in the little, in the
least.
We're that strong in our faith.
Our commitment and our dedication to our, mashallah,
tabarakallah, aqeedah, is we're not going to, no
matter what you say, no matter what you
bring, we're not budging one bit of that
perspective of Iman.
farthalna alayhim al-tufan So we sent to
them the flood, waljarada, and the locusts, wakumala,
and the lice, waddawaddafadi, and the frogs, waddam,
and the blood, ayatil mufassanat Distinct, clear signs.
One after the other, they are seeing their,
the manifestations of their weakness, their limitations, and
Allah's greatness.
One after the other, they are seeing what
is not working out for them, and how
the alternative that Musa is presenting, offering, promising,
not being taken seriously.
They insist, despite their understanding of reality, backfiring,
backfiring repeatedly, again and again, no, we're going
to stick our ground.
Okay?
fastakbaru They showed arrogance.
fagganu qawman mujrimeen And they were a criminal
people.
They just want to stop whatever it is
that they were habituated to in the form
of the jurm that they were continuously committing.
walamma waqaa alayhim ar-rijz And every time
the punishment descended upon them, qalu, they said,
ya Musa bi'ulana rabbak Musa, call on
your Rabb for us.
Whatever he has promised you.
la'in kashafta AAan al-rijza If you
remove from us this punishment, la nu'minanna We
will definitely believe in you.
wa la nursilanna ma'aka bani israeel And
we will send the bani israeel with you.
You can take them.
walamma kashafna AAan hum al-rijza And when
we did remove the punishment from them, ila
ajalim hum baaligu For a term which they
were to reach, idha hum yanqutuna They immediately
broke their covenants.
They made a commitment to Musa, and then
they backed.
fantaqamna minhum So we took revenge from them.
faghraqnahum fil yawmi And we drowned them in
the sea.
bi'annahum kazzabu bi'ayatina Because they continued
to reject, because they rejected our ayat.
wakanu anha ghafilina They were heedless of that.
wa awratna alqawma allatheena kanu yustad'afoon And
we made the people who were being oppressed,
the inheritors.
Now the Bani Israel are in power.
masharikal ardi wa magharibahal lathee ba'raqna feeha
The eastern and western parts of land blessed
by us.
It didn't immediately happen after Fir'aun's demise,
but it eventually did happen.
It took a few decades for that to
happen, and that's in the time of Dawud
alayhis salaam and Sulaiman alayhis salaam, where each
of its pinnacle, but the process started with
the athab on Fir'aun and the Ahl
al-Fir'aun.
And so we fulfilled that wathammat kalimatu rabbikal
husna and the beautiful promise of your Rabb
was fulfilled ala Bani Israel for the Bani
Israel bima sabaru because they patiently persevered in
acknowledgment to the effort, to the sacrifice of
the Bani Israel.
Those with Musa alayhis salaam and then, of
course, those after Musa alayhis salaam.
We know them for all the jurmah and
all the difficulties that they put their prophets
through.
And that was primarily the the criticism that
Swith Baqarah launched against them because that is
it is that part of their legacy that
they were still holding on to.
The part of their legacy, which represented that
sabar, the part of their legacy that represented
that shukr that they expressed, that they lived
up to the Torah.
That part was also there and that part
is being acknowledged as well.
waddammarna ma kana yasna'u fir'aun wa
qawmu And we destroyed all of what Fir
'aun and his people used to produce.
wa ma kana ya'rishuul and whatever they
used to construct.
wajawwazna bi Bani Israel albahra And we allowed
the Bani Israel to cross the sea.
fa'atawu ala qawmi ya'qifuuna ala aslami
allahum And they came across a people worshipping
their idols.
qalu ya Musa ija'al lana ilaahintum alahum
aliha Musa, can you make us?
Can we have what they have?
Can you make us a god like they
have a god?
qala innakum thawmun tajhibun Musa responded, you're an
ignorant people.
You know nothing.
innaha ula'i mutabarrum ma'ahum fihi Destroyed
is whatever they're engaged in.
fabaqidum ma kanu ya'amadun Worthless is whatever
they're doing.
qala ghayral laahi aburrikum ilaaha And he said,
should I seek for you a god other
than Allah?
wahu akhabbalakum alal aalameen While he has exalted
you above all the people of all nations.
wa'idhan jaynaa min aali fir'aun And
remember when he rescued you from the people
of Fir'aun.
yasumunakum soo'u aladhaab They were afflicting you
with a horrible punishment.
yuqattiluna abna'akum Killing your son wa yastahjuna
nisa'akum And letting your women live.
wa fee thalikum bala'um li rabbikum yusayman
And that was a huge, tremendous trial from
your Rabb for you.
wa'adna musa thalathina laylah This is chapter
three.
Muta alayhis salaam's life.
Chapter two ends with Fir'aun's demise.
Now it is him and Bani Israel.
The exodus.
The time in the desert.
wa'adna musa thalathina laylah We summoned Musa
for 30 nights wa'atmamnaaha bi'ashrin And
we added 10 more to them.
fatamma miqatu rabbihi arba'een laylah So the
term of his Rabb came to completion in
40 nights.
waqala musa li akheehi haroon And Musa said
to his brother Haroon, khuluknee fee qawm You
are my khalifa.
In my absence, you're in charge.
In my people.
wa'aslih Maintain order.
wa la tattabi' as-sabeela almufsabeel And do
not follow the path of the troublemakers.
walamma ja'a musa li miqatina wa kalamahu
rabbih And when Musa came to our appointment
and his Rabb spoke to him.
qala rabbih arini anzur ilayk Musa alayhi salam
is like, Ya Allah, let me please.
Can I see you?
I want to see you.
Can I look at you?
qala lansarani And he said, Musa, you can't
see me.
walakin anzur ilal jabal Why don't you look
at that mountain?
fa inna istaqarra makanahu fasawfa tarani If it
stands its ground, then you will be able
to see.
falamma tajalla rabbuhu liljabal When the tajalli of
Allah, when the tajalli of his Rabb, whoever
that was, however that was, can't say, don't
know, revealed itself to the mountain.
ja'alahu dhakka It rendered it asunder, crushed
it to dust.
wa kharra Musa sa'iqa Musa fell down
unconscious.
Relate this with Surah Al-Khashr towards the
end when the Qur'an is being spoken
of.
Had this Qur'an been revealed to a
mountain, it would have crushed it to dust.
wa kharra Musa sa'iqa Musa fell down
unconscious.
falamma a'taqa And when he recovered, Allah Subh
'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la took to a
lake.
He said, Glory to you, I turn to
you repenting.
wa ana awwalul mu'minin I am the first
of those who believe.
And Musa alayhi as-salam, this passionate desire
for Allah.
I mean, as close as you get, he's
talking to Allah, talking and getting responses.
He's Kaleem Allah, like no other.
And so naturally, when you've gotten that close,
the desire for more.
Yeah, like when I see you, Allah responds
with a demonstration.
Not with a refusal because he knows where
Musa is coming from.
It's much different from where, pretty soon the
Bani Israel are going to ask for the
same.
We want to see Allah.
narallaha jahra Where Musa alayhi as-salam is
coming from, Allah does show him.
But what is seen is the incapacity to
see.
The answer is that your question is incorrect
for now.
falaya musa'in istaghfaytu ka'alan And so
Allah said, Nisa, I have chosen you, above
all people, bi risalati wa bi kalam with
my messages, with my conversation, fa khud ma
'ataytu So this is Allah consoling Nisa after
all of what's happened.
Patting you on the back, if you will.
You have chosen me.
You're still one of the best.
As of now, the best.
At the time of Musa alayhi as-salam,
my risalah, my kalam, is especially your privilege.
So take what I have given you wa
kum min ash-shay'atin and be among
them.
Again, the office of the Prophet in what
it has to do for the people primarily,
even though it has its own spiritual desires,
but not all spiritual desires, just because they're
spiritual, are necessarily to be responded to immediately
or to be fulfilled there and then.
There is stuff you have to hold on
to, hold off on, patience, even in matters
of spirituality.
Respecting the process, the long journey.
You know, there's always those times in a
long journey where you want to say, are
we there yet?
But hold on.
Again, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, mi'raj,
whatever happens, happens.
And so even Musa alayhi as-salam is
being told these conversations, these messages, this risalah,
these ayats, go back.
Wa kum min ash-shay'atin and be
among the grateful.
Faqatabna lahu fil alwahi min kulli shay'in
mawa'ibah And we inscribed for him in
the table, in the tablets, everything to admonish.
Everything in the sense, everything that is necessary.
What the 10 commandments mean, what Musa alayhi
as-salam brings, what they represent for the
history of humanity.
Ethics like never before, morality like never before.
This is the turning point in the history
of humanity.
This is what is going to allow for
this crowd of people, this jungle to turn
into a better civilization.
This is what is going to allow for
human beings to reach newer heights that was
otherwise impossible.
That what is inscribed on this, and if
it is taken seriously, and it was taken
seriously.
We are who we are for whatever good
there is.
There's a lot of evil, yes, but then
there is so much that is good.
And that is good because there were good
people who took what was good, given to
Musa, was entirely good.
It was taken seriously.
وَكَتَبْنَا لَهُ فِي الْأَلْوَاخِ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَوْعِظًا
تَفْصِيلًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ And it had an explanation
for everything.
فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةً So hold on to it firmly,
with determination.
وَأْمُرْ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُوا بِأَحْسَنِهَا And tell your people
to hold on to it in the best
way possible.
There is a best way of holding on
to scripture.
There is a good way of holding on
to scripture.
There is a not-so-good way of
holding on to scripture.
And there's a bad way of holding on
to it.
Just that we know that it is أَحْسَنِهَا
That the possibility of holding on to it
in the best possible way, it alludes to
the entire spectrum of possibilities.
That from within scripture, and how you hold
on to it, it isn't necessary that all
that comes is necessarily good.
And we have seen all from Bukhara, day
one, how in the name of scripture, so
much evil and injustice has been done.
And to correct that, to rectify that, how
prophetic that is, identify demonic religiosity.
أُورِيكُمْ دَارَ الْفَاسِقِينَ And soon I will show
you the home of the corruptors.
One of the intents of scripture was for
the دار الفاسقين to come to light, that
you're able to distinguish demonics and divines.
فَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ آيَاتِ So I will divert away,
I will soon divert away from my signs.
أَلَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَمْدِ Those who
are unduly arrogant in their mind.
وَإِنْ يَرَوْا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَا Even
if they see every single sign, they will
not believe in it.
They will not be able to believe in
it.
Their kibr is the greatest wall in the
path of their acceptance.
وَإِنْ يَرَوْا السَّبِيلَ الرُّشْدِ And if they see
the path of guidance, لَا يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلًا They
will not take it.
وَإِنْ يَرَوْا السَّبِيلَ الْغَيِّ And if they see
the path of sin, يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلًا They will
take it as their path, as a path
to walk on.
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتٍ And this is because
they rejected the ayaat, our ayaat.
وَكَانُوا أَنْهَا غَفِلِ And they were oblivious, heedless
of them.
وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَلِقَاءِ الْآخِرَنَ Those who reject
our ayaat and the meeting in the Hereafter
أَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُوا All their good deeds are going
to be rendered worthless.
وَالْيُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ Are they rewarded
except what they used to do?
Good deeds have this potential, turning into fluff.
If they are accompanied with this kibr, that
does not allow for us to make sense
of the ayaat of Allah.
وَاتَّخَذَ قَوْمُ مُوسَىٰ مِنْ وَعْدِهِ And Musa's people,
in his absence, هُكْ مِنْهُ اللِّجِيهِمْ عِجِلًا جَسَدَ
اللَّغُوفُ Wow!
From their jewelry, a statue of a calf
that produced a mooing sound.
أَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّهُ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمْ Didn't they see
that it neither speaks to them ولا يَهْدِيهِمْ
سَبِيلًا nor does it guide them to a
straight path.
اتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُوا ظَلْمِينَ Yet they took it, and
they were ظَلَمِينَ وَلَمَا السُّقِطَ فِي أَيْدِهِ And
when they did regret what they had done,
So there was three categories of people.
When they did whatever they did, this calf
that they took, the way it worked, they
had this jewelry from the people of Fir
'aun, they were bankers even at that time.
So they were holding on to this jewelry
from the people of Fir'aun, and now
the people of Fir'aun are gone, and
they still have this jewelry, and they're good
bankers, they want to return that jewelry, but
there's nobody to return it to.
It's all brown.
Like, what do we do with it?
It's not ours.
Like, why don't we make something of it?
And Samri, Samri Jadidur, when he made them,
he led them to make it into a
calf, and it seemed to be producing a
moving sound.
You know, like, see?
This is the god of Musa.
And so this jealousy of Musa alaihi salam,
how come he goes and gets to talk
to Allah?
Why is he the prophet?
That's not fair.
And so they make a god of their
own.
See, this is a god.
Now I have faith.
I can talk to him.
Yay.
There's three groups of people.
One that does it, one that follows in
the footsteps of Samri and takes that path
as god.
Another group that refuses, under the leadership of
Harun alaihi salam, does not engage in that,
understands it for what it is, shirk and
abstainance.
Now when Musa alaihi salam comes back, admonishes
them, the group that took the calf for
worship is split in two.
One that regrets what they've done, the return
of Musa has allowed for them to see
truth for what it is, and they regret
having committed that.
And then there's this other group that says,
no, what we did, we did.
Those who remain with Samri.
It was right.
It was true.
We should be allowed to do that.
And it was a god, or whatever.
So when they regretted what they had done,
and realized that they had gone astray, they
said, this is that group that regretted after
having committed what they had done.
If our lord does not have mercy on
us and does not forgive us, we will
be of the losers.
We will again be reminiscent of Adam alaihi
salam.
And then Musa returned to his people extremely
furious and grieved.
He said, how wretched is what you replaced
me with when I left.
Are you calling on the amr of Allah?
The judgment of Allah?
The punishment of Allah?
And he threw down the tablets.
Imagine a prophet bringing down a Musa to
dismay and frustration.
He held his brother by the head in
grand importance.
My mother, in a sense, the people
oppressed me.
They were about to kill me.
So don't let my enemies laugh at me.
I didn't have it easy, just to let
you know.
It wasn't a joy ride being the khalifa
after you.
People gave me * and they almost killed
me.
So don't make a mockery of me.
Do not cluster me among the walameen.
I'm not with them.
And then Musa alayhi salam said, my Rabb
forgive me.
And my brother.
Envelop us with your mercy.
You're the most merciful of the merciful.
Those who took the calf of God.
Will incur wrath from their Rabb.
And humiliation of the life of this world.
And that is how we reward the fabricators,
the inventors of lies.
wal-ladheenaAAamilassayyiAAat And those who commit sins thumma
ta'abun min ba'dihaa wa-aman But repent
after that and become true believers.
inna rabbaka min ba'dihaa laghfurur raheem They should
know that after that, their Rabb, your Rabb,
Ya Rasulullah, is, or if this is Allah
quoting himself from that time, addressing Musa Alayhi
Salaam, after that, your Rabb is laghfurur raheem,
most definitely forgiving and merciful.
walamma sakataAAa moosa alghadhaa And when Musa, his
anger calmed down, akhadha al-alwaah, he grabbed
the tablets.
wa fee nusqatihaa hudan wa rahmat And in
their inscription, what was in them was guidance
and mercy.
lil-ladheenaAAamilirabbihim yirrahaboon For those who had this
intimidation, this awe of their Rabb, wa akhdhaara
moosa qaamahu sabAAeena rajula limiqatina And Musa chose
70 men from his people for our appointment.
falamma aakhadhathumarrajiurba But when the earthquake seized them,
qala rabbilaw shiitaa ahlaktahum min qablu iyaa Musa
Alayhi Salaam said, Ya Allah, if you wanted
to destroy us before this, and me, and
them, you would have done so.
So these 70 people, there's some sort of
a tawbah that they're doing, they're chosen, the
best people of Bani Israel, Musa Alayhi Salaam
brings them, and they're welcomed by this earthquake.
Musa Alayhi Salaam is literally begging them.
atuhlikuna bimaa faAAala as-sufahao minna And then,
this is the qiyam, he stands up.
If you wanted, you could have killed us,
but are you going to kill us for
what the juhala, the sufaha, the idiots from
among us have done?
inhiya illa fitnatu This is but a trial
from you.
tabillu bihaa man tashaa wa tahdee man tashaa
You misguide through it whoever you want, and
you guide through it whoever you want.
anta waleen, you are our protector and friend.
fakfir lanaa warhamnasa, forgive us, have mercy on
us.
wa anta khairu ghaafireen, and you are the
best of those who forgive.
Back in Sajdah.
waqtub lanaa fi hadhihi dunyaa hasanaa huwaa fil
aakhirah And so, destined for us, a fortune
good in this life.
And in the hereafter.
innaa hudnaa ilayk, we have definitely turned back
to you.
hudnaa ilayk, yahood qala adhaabi useebu bihi man
ashaa Allah said, my punishment, I afflict with
it, whoever I want.
marahmati wasi'at kulla shay, and my mercy,
that encompasses everything.
fataktubuha lillatheena yattaquna wa yuqtoona alzakaat And so,
I will destine it in favor of those
who observe my taqwa and engage in this
process of zakat.
Again, prior to Madinah, zakat is a process
of purification.
Looking to purge yourself, cleanse yourself, looking to
grow that which is good inside of you,
rather than that which is evil inside.
walladheena hum bi-aayaatinaa yu'minoon And those who
believe in our aayaat, alladhina yattabi'oon ar
-rasool an-nabeeja al-kumni Those who follow
the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, alladhi yajidoonahum maqtooban
indahum fil-tawraati wal-injeel Whom they would
find described in the Tawra, in the Injeel.
And so, it is here that the coming
of Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, the functions of
Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, and the responsibilities of
the people who are really true and sincere
to him, are laid out.
And so, we will close mid-aayaah and
start from here tomorrow.
InshaAllah.
Aakhiru da'wana an-ilhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen