Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Nights 2021 Day 20
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The importance of seeking refuge in Islam is emphasized, along with finding a person to address issues and problems. The struggles of the Islam community and the need for people to hold onto scripture and recognize the human value are emphasized. The importance of finding a partner for spiritual health is emphasized, as Facebook's policies distort people's lives and lead to negative consequences, and the importance of shaytan and taqwa is emphasized, along with the need to be aware of one's demonic influence and not forget about emotions. Shaytan and taqwa is emphasized, as well as finding a stable life and developing a relationship with one's Q Hyundai.
AI: Summary ©
We seek refuge in Allah from the evils
of our souls and from the evils of
our deeds.
Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and
whosoever He misguides, none can guide him.
And we bear witness that there is no
god but Allah, alone, with no partner.
And we bear witness that Muhammad is His
servant and Messenger.
The best hadith is the book of Allah,
and the best guide is the guide of
Muhammad, peace be upon him.
And the worst of things are its incidents,
and every incident is a creation, and every
creation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is
in the Fire.
Allah says in His noble book, After I
say, I seek refuge in Allah from the
accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the
Merciful, the Compassionate.
وَاكْتُبْ لَنَا فِي هَٰذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ
إِنَّا هُدْنَا إِلَيْكَ قَالَ عَذَابِي أُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ
أَشَاءُ وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ
وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ
يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيجَ الْأُمِّيجَ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا
عِنْدَهُمْ فِي الْتَوْرَاتِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ
وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ
وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثِ وَيَضَعُ أَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ
الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ
وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي يُنزِلَ مَعَهُ
أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ صدق الله العظيم بِشَهْرِ
سَدْرِي وَسِرْ لِيَمْرِي وَحْرَ لُقْتَةً مِنْ لَسَانِ يَفْطَهُ
قَوْلِهِ اللهم انفعنا بما علمتنا وعلمنا ما ينفعنا
وازدنا علما اللهم ربنا ازدنا علما اللهم ارنا
حقيقة الاشياء كما هي اللهم ارنا الحق حقا
وارزقنا اتباعا وارنا الباطل باطلا وارزقنا اجتنابا آمين
يا رب العالمين So when Musa Alayhis Salaam
took a select group of people from Bani
Israel after that incident in which they had
indulged in that practice of shirk or at
least some of them had and so the
best of them are chosen Musa Alayhis Salaam
presents them in front of Allah they are
welcomed by an earthquake and Musa Alayhis Salaam
makes this dua to Allah and asks for
the best for his people here and hereafter
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la responds
to that dua and introduces them to Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam if you want the best
in this world and you want the best
in the hereafter then there is something that
has to be held on to there is
something that has to be a commitment that
has to be made with respect to Muhammadur
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and it is at
that time that there is this covenant that
they accept Allah responds to them that my
punishment I will afflict with it whoever I
will whoever I want now again for the
conception that we are predisposed to in religiosity
that we should be exempt from punishment on
account of participating or taking up membership Allah
says no that prerogative I retain whoever deserves
it will get it and my mercy envelops
everything it extends to everything so I will
destine it I have written it for those
who have taqwa and those who constantly engage
in this act of purification and this giving
of zakat and how giving of zakat and
self-purification are tied and in hand and
those who believe in our ayat so these
the presence of taqwa the giving of zakat
or the continuous engagement in a giving which
results in growing which results in purification and
the attitude of humility and the attitude of
iman towards the ayat of Allah these are
the people for whom that mercy of Allah
it's written out and in addition to that
they follow in the footsteps of the messenger
the unlettered prophet whom they would find
described in the Torah and in the Injil
so at the time of this covenant Injil
not having been revealed so this alludes to
the coming of Isa and the Injil as
well and talks about the messenger being essentially
unlettered so what is the messenger going to
do he is going to enjoin upon them
what is good and he will stop them
from that which is wrong and he would
declare all pure things to be halal for
them to be permissible for them again the
demonic religiosity the degenerate following of scripture had
resulted in a distortion of priorities ma'ruf
and munkar were all over the place the
observance or the following of ma'ruf or
the promoting of ma'ruf was missing what
was munkar was prevalent in society it is
everywhere to be seen and then there is
tayyibat there is good things that are forbidden
that have been declared to be religiously haram
and so one of the functions of the
prophet was to rectify the priorities when it
came to ma'ruf and munkar and liberate
the people of the unnecessary prohibitions that they
had placed upon themselves and he would disallow
or forbid upon them impurities these activities or
these indulgences again which had become prevalent when
they were the ones that required to be
forbidden so in performing these functions overall what
does the prophet end up achieving or what
does he do that he would relieve them
of the burdens and the shackles on them
that not paying due regard to what tawheed
entails, what iman entails, what scripture entails in
their personal lives, in their social lives inevitably
ends people up in a way that they're
that they have fettered themselves fettered themselves and
what do we understand by someone who is
burdened and shackled that there is a burden
on their back and there are shackles, chains
that they're not they cannot do what they're
meant to do or what they're good to
do what they should be capable of doing
they are forbidden from that that there is
an unnecessary burden on their back and there
are chains on their hands that doesn't allow
for them to live up to their potential
but what Rasulullah ﷺ comes with is this
liberty that he provides in putting everything in
its appropriate place ma'ruf, munkar, qayyibat, tabaith
they're all made clear for what they are
and as a result this liberates the community,
you can breathe easy now you can live
easy now and you can live up to
what you're capable of so the more degenerate
a religiosity the more distorted a priority the
more difficult it becomes for the individuals in
that society for people in that community or
for that society in general to breathe to
live up to their potential to grow so
those who believe in him so one of
the first rights that he has as somebody
who's doing all of this for humanity one
of the first rights that he has is
that he is believed in that they accept
him to have brought the truth that they
accept him to have brought the ayat of
Allah in his prophethood so whoever believes in
him those who believe in him and they
honor him they give him the respect that
he deserves that believing in Rasulullah ﷺ naturally
entails a respect but the respect is mentioned
separately particularly because the tribes that are being
addressed or the people of the Jewish communities
that are going to be addressed within Medina
and again like we said this is pretty
much the last year of prophethood give or
take a few months so those tribes are
about to come and their tendency to proclaim
belief but then disrespect precisely that which they
had believed in and that inspired this hypocritical
tendency within the believing community within the Muslim
community as well so believing in the prophet
and respecting him and what does that mean
to believe and respect it means accepting what
he has brought into your lives submitting yourselves
in the way of the prophet ﷺ what
does it mean to respect an elder is
to understand that he is not we don't
treat him the way we treat each other
even with each other there is a degree
of respect that some people deserve more of
than others on account of being more in
age on account of being more in knowledge
on account of various factors but that of
Rasulullah ﷺ takes a special position in terms
of the respect that he deserves you cannot
address him or you cannot look at him
the same way as you look at everybody
else he has to have this distinctive spot
this distinctive place this honored place that he
is that he is held in and this
Iman and this respect would result in a
person living in his footsteps that it will
result in this Itaat this Muhabbah this love
Iman and respect results in love of the
prophet where he says clear cut that you
don't believe you don't really believe until I
have become more beloved to you than your
own children your own parents your own selves
to have that level of respect and belief
in Iman in Rasulullah ﷺ and how that
results in a person looking for what is
it that I can do what is it
that I can possibly do for the prophet
for him to reciprocate his love to reciprocate
what he's done for me what he's done
for us how can I ever pay him
back it just doesn't the phrase is we
can't but try our best try our best
to do what we're supposed to and one
of the things that it necessarily entails is
to help him and again Rasulullah ﷺ would
never accept that people help him in his
in what he is to do himself or
what is his personal life affairs he wouldn't
let the Sahaba give him his stick when
he's riding a camel he would rather do
it himself he would just take that himself
he would stop them from doing that they
weren't his this help is not being his
personal servants this help is in what he's
trying to do in the world what he's
trying to do in the amr bil ma
'ruf in the nahyan al munkar in the
in the the making halal of the tayyabat
the making haram of the khabaith the what
all of that what he's spent his entire
life doing to find a place to help
him there because clearly his work
or what he was charged with was too
big for his for his own lifespan it
extended beyond him and a personal question that
every single one of us should be asking
ourselves an answer that we owe to ourselves
is what is what's my help how can
i help the prophet and we should have
a very concrete answer to this question if
i were to confront rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam
on the day of judgment will i have
anything to bring to him a testimony of
faith yes words of respect yes but practically
is there going to be anything that i
can proudly take to him and say ya
rasulullah i spent my life doing this that
you say to rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam you
acknowledge all of what he's done for you
you express that gratitude that appreciation being able
to really identify what he has done for
you and to be able to say thank
you or express your gratitude with a with
a with an ability or with a with
this claim to some impact some way in
which the world changed the way if rasulullah
salallahu alayhi wasalam were alive were with us
the way he would have changed the world
something if he were in my place what
would he do and so if i have
something of an answer if i have my
respect for him my love for him my
belief in him has led me to know
him sufficiently so as to be able to
answer that question in my individual context of
my entire life of different situations within my
life if i am able to answer that
question with some degree of understanding and it's
a very personal question you don't owe that
answer to anybody else that's between you rasulullah
and Allah ونصروه and help him وَتَبَعُ النُّورَ
الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهِ and helping rasulullah is no
joke what it necessitates is this commitment to
the scripture itself to what he brings in
the form of light how he was his
character كَانَ خُلُقُهُ قُرْآنًا how he was able
to do whatever he was able to do
because of his commitment to the Quran and
so being able to carry that on after
him long after him it requires this again
very personal relationship with the Quran as well
this kinship that you develop this relationship that
you develop أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُطْلِحُونَ these are the
people again Musa A.S. asked for what?
best in this world, best in the hereafter
Allah says this is the recipe this is
how you get it the key for that
now an indispensable key is through the Prophet
صلى الله عليه وسلم أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُطْلِحُونَ قُلْ
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسِ so again after these stories
of six رُسُل six messengers of Allah each
of them going to their particular community with
a call with a message from Allah of
Tawheed and then whatever was the main concern
for the people the topic continues into this
announcement to all of mankind to all of
humanity قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسِ so say يا
رسول الله all to all the people that
oh people إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا I
am the Rasul of Allah towards all of
you الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ the one
to whom alone the sovereignty of the heavens
and the earth belongs لا إِلَهَ إِلَّاهُ there
is no Ilah except Him يُحِيِي وَيُمِيْتِ He
gives life and He gives death فَآمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ
وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيجِ الْأُمِّي so believe in Allah and
His messenger the unlettered Prophet الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ
وَكَلِمَاتِهُ who himself believes in Allah and His
words وَاتَّبِعُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ follow in His footsteps
so that you may be guided guidance is
along the path trodden by Rasulullah ﷺ and
that's what it is for now for all
of humanity for all times to come وَمِنْ
قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ and from the people of Musa
أُمَّةٌ يَهْدُونَ بِالْحَقِّ there are those who guide
to the truth وَبِهِ يَعْدِلُونَ and they judge
in accordance with it وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمْ أُثْنَةَ عَشْرَةَ أَسْبَاطًا
أُمَمًا we divided them into twelve tribes as
communities وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ and we revealed to
Musa إِذِ اسْتَسْقَوهُ قَوْمُهُ when his people asked
him for water أَنِ اضْرِبْ بِعَسَاكَ الْحَجَرِ that
strike your stick on the rock فَمْ بَجَسَتْ
مِنْهُ أُثْنَةَ عَشْرَةَ عِيْنًا so twelve springs gushed
out of it the twelve tribes of Bani
Israel under the leadership of Musa banished in
the desert they haven't settled in anywhere and
they can't go back obviously they need provisions
most of all they need water and for
that Musa implores Allah Allah responds strike your
staff upon the rocks twelve rocks, twelve streams,
twelve tribes قَدْ عَلِمَ كُلُّ أُنَاسٍ مَشْرَبَهُمْ each
tribe knew their drinking place it was allotted
to them وَضَلَّلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الْغَمَامَةِ and we shaded
them with clouds وَأَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَنَّ وَالسَّلْوَى and
we sent down to them the man and
salwa قُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ telling them
eat of what purities of pure things that
we have provided you وَمَا ظَلَمُونَا and they
did not do zulm upon us وَلَكِنْ كَانُوا
أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ rather they were unjust to their
own selves Allah honored them so many ways
for what they were charged with Allah respected
them for the responsibilities that they had just
signed up for and in not living up
to those responsibilities is not living up to
their own worth وَإِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ اسْكُنُوا هَذِهِ
الْقَرْيَةِ and when they were told go live
in this town وَكُلُوا مِنْهَا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمْ and
go eat from it wherever you want وَقُولُوا
حِقَّةٌ and continue to ask for forgiveness say
Ya Allah forgive us وَدُخُلُوا الْبَابَ السُّجَّدَ and
enter the gate prostrating enter the great gate
humble before Allah نَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ خَطِيَاتِكُمْ we will
forgive you your sins so finally after Musa
Alayhi Salaam under the leadership of Yusha they
do succeed in conquering Jerusalem they're entering and
they're required to enter with humility and when
you're entering in the name of Allah if
you enter without this attitude of falling down
in sajdah before Allah then it's a very
very dangerous place to be in in the
place of the victor in the place of
the conqueror what extends from that place is
the potential for a lot of evil a
lot of exploitation a lot of revenge a
lot of transgression in revenge and it is
that humility before Allah that acknowledgement of His
greatness that will keep you in your place
so that you don't transgress and usurp the
rights of others فَنَذِيدُ الْمُحْسَنِينَ we will forgive
you your sins and we will increase the
people of Ihsan even more فَبَدَّلَ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا
مِنْهُمْ قَوْلًا غَيْرَ الَّذِي قِيلَ لَهُمْ so the
unjust people from among them changed the word
replaced the word with one which was not
set to them so rather than being humble
asking for forgiveness recognizing their fallibility that even
with the best of their efforts they would
have made mistakes and there's room for improvement
and that process should continue they changed it
all together rather than saying حِتَّةٌ they changed
the word and playing around with it said
we want food we want food we want
grain فَأُرْزَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ الرِّجْزَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ so we
sent down against them a punishment from heaven
بِمَا كَانُوا يَظُلِمُونَ because of the dhulm that
they did because of this injustice that they
did and what they said with their tongues
you could see manifest in their actions and
that particular faction not the entire army but
that particular faction of Bani Israel they ended
up looting plundering exploiting like nobody else and
so they were afflicted with this plague by
Allah وَاسْأَلْهُمْ عَنِ الْقَرْيَةِ الَّتِي كَانَتْ حَابِرَةَ الْبَحَى
and ask them regarding the residents of the
town situated on the seaside again another important
incident from the story of the Bani Israel
way after Musa A.S. that is relevant
to those who are looking to respond to
Rasulullah S.A.W again the Bani Israel
have responded to Musa in word but the
respect that they owe the help that they
are supposed to extend as far as they
are concerned even before the coming of Rasulullah
S.A.W their responsibility is on their
shoulders to maintain the order of the Bible
so that Rasulullah S.A.W has a
group of supporters prepared for him from the
get-go so all he has to do
is come in and take the reins with
their insistence on on arrogance rather than Iman
and how it manifests itself across their history
so ask them about these three groups or
about the people situated on the seaside three
groups what do we mean by three groups?
that's not stated as yet in these ayats
they will come in a little bit but
there is similar to the incident of taking
the calf for worship even in the case
of the Sabbath there were three groups in
response to Rasulullah S.A.W Nusra his
respect and help that our Iman commits us
to that we owe him is going to
be three types of people so when they
transgressed in the matter of Sabbath so as
far as transgressing in the matter of helping
Rasulullah S.A.W is concerned believing in
him and respecting him as he deserves that
happened, that transgression has happened been happening for
a while now as for the people of
Sabbath what happened is تَأْتِيهِمْ حِيتَانَهُمْ يَوْمَ السَّبْتِهِمْ
شُرَّعًا on the day of their Sabbath their
fish appeared to them on the surface of
the water وَيَوْمَ لَا يَسْبِتُونَ لَا تَأْتِيهِمْ on
the day they were not observing the Sabbath
the rest of the days of the week
the fish did not appear so the fish
have this sense of the days of the
week as well and they know that they're
not going to be hunted on Saturdays or
fished on Saturdays so they're just going around
there mocking, playing, enticing and the fishermen they're
all frustrated it's so hard getting them on
the rest of the days of the week
and they're sitting ducks sitting fish we can
just get them كَذَلَكَ نَبْلُوهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ
and this is how we tested them because
of their disobedience something or the other that
had settled in within that society some level
of degenerate practices that had already started and
now that they are in this particular situation
they're tempted وَإِذْ قَالَتْ أُمَّةٌ what did they
do?
they did not observe the Sabbath they're not
required they're required not to work on Saturdays
they're required to give up all sorts of
commerce and engage exclusively in activities of worship
what do they do?
they say okay we want that profit on
Saturday we can't work technically we won't work
but what we'll do is we'll cast our
nets on Friday so that Saturday isn't spent
working but most of Friday evening Friday night
is working for not working and so whatever
they had to do on Saturdays with respect
to their religious observation they're too tired for
it or they're not committed or their mind
is not into it it's always okay how
many fish must we have caught?
is our plan working?
are the traps working?
and they're not doing what they have to
do they're not working either so the letter
of the law is fulfilled but the spirit
is lost technically they feel that they're in
the good they're all right so now that
that's happened وَإِذْ قَالَتْ أُمَّةٌ مِّنْهُمْ and when
some of them asked لمَ تَعِذُونَ قَوْمَ اللَّهُ
مُهْلِكُهُمْ as for the perpetrators they're put to
a side for now they're bracketed on the
side those who did not perpetrate the other
two groups who did not participate in this
playing around with the rules of Allah with
compromising the spirit but maintaining the letter down
to the rigid detail that group is put
to a side the other two groups who
did not do this one of them is
admonishing the first the perpetrators they're telling the
perpetrators this is wrong you shouldn't have done
this you should not do this abstain so
there's this practice going on and then there's
the third group which is telling the ones
who are admonishing why are you wasting your
time let them be forget it, it's no
good it's not your responsibility who made you
in charge لمَا تَعِذُونَ قَوْمَنِ اللَّهُ مُهْلِكُمْ why
do you admonish people Allah is going to
destroy them so for them there is an
absolute judgment against the perpetrators as being gone
cases absolutely off اَوْمُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا شَهِدًا either he's
going to get rid of them all together
exterminate them kill them off in punishment or
just give them a very strong punishment strict
punishment painful punishment قَالُوا مَعَذِرَةً إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ their
response was we're doing this as an excuse
so we can offer something to our Rabb
as an apology as you know what we
weren't involved we tried our best it's not
just we weren't involved in the practice but
even after that we tried to stop it
for whatever we were worth whatever we could
do قَالُوا مَعَذِرَةً إِلَىٰ رَبِّكُمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّكُونَ and
perhaps they may abstain they may stop I
mean we're maintaining this room, this space for
them this hope for them there's not a
categorical writing off of these people are gone
and we're so much better than them no
they see some possibility of good there فَلَمَّ
نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ but when they ignored
what they were reminded of again the group
becomes worthy of punishment after they were adequately
reminded by the more responsible lot and that's
we see that again consistently that when a
group has to be punished it is not
enough that they've just committed the act that
deserves the punishment it is after the act
has been committed there was someone or a
group of someone that made it very clear
to them that what you were on and
what you were doing not on wrong should
have abstained should abstain there is still time
let's make amends it is after that has
happened that the punishment comes فَلَمَّ نَسُوا مَا
ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ so the tazkir has happened the
reminders happened and they have ignored it that's
the degree of insolence the arrogance before the
reminders أَنْدَيْنَ الَّذِينَ يَنْهُونَ عَنِ السُّوءِ we saved
the ones who were forbidding the evil who
were trying to stop it they were the
group that is saved وَأَخَذْنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا بِعَذَابٍ
رَئِيسٍ and we overtook the transgressors with a
dreadful punishment بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ because of what
they were doing the transgression that they were
doing the other two groups the one that
perpetrated and then the one who was not
concerned they had this holier than thou superiority
complex on account of their religiosity apparently but
they felt they got enveloped by that عذاب
as well وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةَ الَّذِي لَا تُصِيبَنَّكُمْ لَا
تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظُلَمُوا مِنْكُمْ خَاصًا we're going to
study it in the next surah fear that
punishment which is not going to just afflict
those who did the act who did the
wrong it is going to extend to those
who were silent in the face of that
evil وَلَمَا عَتَوْا عَنْ عَمَّانُهُ عَنْهُ and so
when they continued to do what they were
forbidden from doing قُلْنَا لَهُمْ وِيَسَّدْ سِذَمْ كُونُوا
قِرَضَةً خَاصِئِينَ become detested apes because that is
pretty much the attitude that you had chosen
for yourselves the honor of being human beings
of taking the reminder seriously reflecting and changing
and the whole what makes the human beings
so adam-like we didn't do that so
might as well be what or look like
what you're acting like وَإِذْ أَذَّنَ رَبُّكَ and
remember when your Rabb said لَيَبْعَثَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَىٰ
يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ that he will raise against them
until the day of judgment ما يَسُومُهُمْ سُوءَ
الْعَذَابِ those who will afflict them with the
worst punishment إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَسَرِيعُ الْعِقَابِ and for
sure your Rabb is swift in penalty وَإِنَّهُ
لَغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمِ and of course he is definitely
forgiving and merciful that those who continue on
this legacy will continue to feel and face
punishments nevertheless those who reform choose to let
go of the legacy of evil of playing
with the family of Allah therefore then Allah
is forgiving and merciful وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أُمَمًا
and so we divided them into different communities
scattered all over the earth مِنْهُمُ الصَّالِحُونَ وَمِنْهُمْ
دُونَ ذَلِكَ from them were those who were
righteous of them are those who are righteous
and of them are those who are not
so much or otherwise وَبَلَوْنَاهُمْ بِالْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيْجِئَاتِ
لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرُجِعُونَ and we tested them with blessings
and with misfortunes that perhaps they would return
فَخَلَفَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ and then they were
succeeded by an unworthy generation, by an unworthy
progeny وَرِثُوا الْكِتَابِ they inherited the scripture يَأْخُذُونَ
عَرَضَهَا ذَلْأَدْنَا and they clutched at the fleeting
good of this world they held scripture meant
for immediate gratification scripture used for immediate gratification
so even the custodians of the scripture in
the name of scripture, in the name of
God, in the name of Musa Alayhis Salaam
what was their interest?
the authority that scripture brought the wealth that
scripture opened the doors to and how the
personal satisfaction it offered them, this was exclusively
their interest عَرَضَ هَذَا الْأَدْنَا the good of
this world alone وَيَقُولُونَ سَيُغُفَرُ لَنَا and they
continued to claim we are going to be
forgiven وَإِيَتِهِمْ عَرَضُمْ مِثْلُهُ وَإِيَتِهِمْ عَرَضُمْ مِثْلُهُ and
so much that whenever the fleeting good the
transient but immediate gratification came their way يَأْخُذُوهُ
they would jump to it they would grab
it وَلَمْ يُؤْخَذْ عَلَيْهِمْ مِثَاقُ الْكِتَابُ was the
covenant of the scripture not taken from them
did they not owe anything to the book?
did they not owe anything for what they're
getting?
they're literally they're identifying themselves with the book
they're giving themselves this privileged position over the
rest of humanity on account of this book
yet what the book demands in return they're
oblivious to they're all of what they have
in terms of a personal privilege who knew
them?
what good were they?
what good are they?
minus the book and all of what the
book gives them what do they give back?
what do they give back?
their authority their name, their respect their honor,
everything is on account of their supposed commitment
to the book these are not irreligious people
being spoken of these are the people وَرَثُ
الْكِتَابُ the one who inherited the book this
is the religious leadership being spoken of that
they're the ones who are the most criminal
they're the ones worthy of the most contempt
and they're the ones that for whom and
for whose insolence the entire community is suffering
that them and the book that they have
and their supposed knowledge of that book is
of no use other than to fill up
their own coffers أَلَمْ يَأْخَذْ عَلَيْهِمْ مِثَىٰ وَالْكِتَابُ
was a covenant of the scripture not taken
from them أَلَّا يَقُولُ عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْحَقُّ
that they're not going to say anything about
Allah except the truth وَذَرَسُوا مَا فِيهِ and
that they would teach it they would make
the knowledge of the book common it would
reach as far as it could to however
many people it could not keep it for
themselves as their personal hegemony وَذَرَسُوا مَا فِيهِ
وَالدَّارُ الْآخَرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ and the home
of the hereafter that is better for the
people of taqwa أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ so will you
not use any sense will you not use
your reason وَالَّذِينَ يُمَسِكُونَ بِالْكِتَابِ وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةِ and
those who hold the scripture firmly and establish
prayer they should know that إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ
أَجْرَ الْمُسْلِحِينَ it does not mean that we
will not allow the reward of the reformers
what does it mean to hold on to
the book what does it mean for one
thing it means hang on to salah as
well establish prayer and to islah scripture is
meant for the reformation of society it is
meant for the repair of community it is
meant for people to see distinguish demonic from
divine particularly with respect to religiosity and to
be able to gravitate more and more towards
the divine and less and less towards the
demonic for these مُسْلِحِين that you should see
it should be visible that the people of
scripture the people committed to the books of
Allah so the revelations of Allah they are
the source of islah that reform in society
is emanating from their quarters for those who
are doing that Allah says their reward is
not going to be wasted وَإِذْ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ
فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ وَإِذْ نَتَقْنَا الْجَبَلَ فَوْقَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُ and
when we raise the mountain above them like
a dark cloud وَغَنْوَنَّهُ وَقِعُنْ بِهِمْ and they
were certain that it would fall on them
again going back and forth in the history
of Bani Israel taking them all the way
back from when the mountain of food was
raised above them this was the degree of
the of what the commitment meant it's like
carrying a mountain load on your backs intimidation
that was that scene that was created and
they were welcomed with an earthquake and they
were bidden farewell with the mountain hanging over
their heads from it hold on to the
Torah hold on to the scripture of Allah,
do not take it lightly literally the fate
of the world depends on it حُضُوا مَا
عَتَيْنَاكُمْ بِقُوَّةٍ hold on to it, hold firmly
to what we have given you وَذْكُرُوا مَا
فِيهِ remember what's in it لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُون so
that perhaps you may become people of Taqwa
so that perhaps this process of Taqwa begins,
this gift of Taqwa is attained this protection
of yourself starts taking place protection from what?
from destruction from evil perhaps this will get
kicked off the possibilities for it or open
up with taking scripture seriously moving right along
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ذُهُورِهِمْ
ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ and when your Rabb took from the
children of Adam from their loins their descendants
وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ and made them testify against
themselves again whenever this this word of shahada
or this witnessing is accompanied with an ala,
on it's like a testimony against in the
sense that it is something that can be
and will be held against you so it's
a witnessing it is after which any sort
of refusal or any sort of you can't
plead ignorance after that so this particular commitment
or this particular testimony against ourselves it is
prior to it is another life of sorts
now what sort of a life is that
we have no way of knowing how we
can there is no concrete description of it
as such but effectively what it is communicating
to us is that within ourselves within us
as human beings the rububiyah of Allah the
recognition of the rububiyah of Allah is present
that at some point in some pre-human
or pre any life before this life biological
life whatever it was, whatever stages there were
whatever form we were in there was this
recognition of the rububiyah of Allah there was
this ability to respond and make a choice
something of a choice that you see children
making repeatedly and as they grow old they
don't have any recollection of the choices that
they made as children even prior to that
prior to the birth of the human being
in this world there is some sort of
a commitment a covenant that we're giving to
Allah is that a genetically programmed predilection is
that something that we are a tendency a
tendency towards Allah towards his rububiyah towards tawheed
that take away the environmental influences yet in
some form or the other this recognition of
Allah will find its way this recognition of
Allah's rububiyah will find its way will find
expression will find a manifestation this is what
is resonant this is what is identified as
a kinship kindred souls in the sense that
you meet people who you've never met before
yet there is a there is a familiarity
with them they strike you as as being
familiar and as the interaction the friendship develops
it grows you're able to see you have
your own life which was completely independent of
this other person or these group of people
but there was so much going on in
your life and in their lives independent of
you that when your paths crossed that when
your stories merged it adds up if you
were ever to sit down and talk about
each other's paths lives you should be able
to see this is for those who are
brought together for something meaningful for something noble
you will be able to see that there
is so much that happened in that other
person's life when they were a child when
they were a teenager or there was this
tendency that they all always had this interest
that they always had that when your paths
crossed when you meet there was a resonance
they were ready to respond to you in
a response that you needed as a person
but then for what you stood for and
that resonance that kinship and the number of
times this repeats that there are so many
of these coincidences with so many people that
it tells you something about how there is
so much more to your own story and
how far back your own story goes and
how there are plots that are relevant to
your story to your life that are so
far removed from it geographically in terms of
time yet they are very intricately and very
intimately related to you all of these ayats
of the rabubiyah of Allah all of these
ayats of how your kinship or your
familiarity with each other it extends to another
familiarity independent yet related that you have with
with Allah and specifically the rabubiyah of Allah
the rabubiyah in the sense that how he
manifests himself as guiding, creating
nurturing so that we have those opportunities for
genuine growth, sometimes by giving and sometimes by
taking away sometimes in the external world sometimes
in the internal world for when opportunities in
the external world are cordoned off for whatever
experience of deprivation or suffering we're in opportunities
for an internal growth open up and so
much of this of reflection on these life
experiences so much of these just sitting back
and meditating disconnecting yourself, just letting your mind
wander and how the mind has this tendency
independent of environmental influences, independent of other people's
suggestions who hit the mark in explaining all
of this in the context of Allah's rabubiyah
how does this make sense?
some conception of Allah, some conception of him
being the Rab naturally dawns upon the person
and that's a part of a human being's
very personal, very subjective experiences that this if
you allow yourself this freedom to reflect this
recognition will spark or this recognition will illuminate
like a flash in your in your amusements
as a as something that puts all of
those facts of experience together ties them in
ties them in with respect to their retrospective
having happened retrospectively but then ties them in
towards something in the future as well towards
something that is to come, that is to
be done, that is to fulfill what responsibility
these experiences place on you for the meaning
in your lives how these are way too
many coincidences to be shrugged off as random
as chance and to be taken with that
mindset they demand another choice or a series
of choices, okay so how do I carry
it from here what is the best way
forward when humanity, whatever state it
was in, whatever rudimentary state it was in,
rudimentary biologically, rudimentary with respect to consciousness whatever
nevertheless there was a commitment alastu bi rabbikum
am I not your Rabb?
falu bala all said for sure, yes shahidna,
we bear witness and taqulu yawmal qiyamah, lest
you should say on the day of judgment
inna kunna an hadha ghafilin we had no
idea about this so of course something of
a recognition of this in these reflective experiences
in these personal musements but then the Quran
puts it in words articulates it it says
this is what see if this fits the
description lest you say on the day of
judgment you had no idea altaqulu or you
say innama ashraka aba'una min qabl that
our forefathers practiced this shirk earlier wakunna dhurriyata
min ba'dihim and we were just descendants coming
after them we had no choice Allah says
no this predilection towards tawheed and the rububiyah
of Allah is such that it allows for
you to take a stand against all the
unjust ways no matter how strongly imposed environmentally
it allows for you to take a stand
against them and more in the direction of
what is tawheed what is your relationship so
you have this in you and this allows
for you to take a stand against all
environmental societal pressure influence and move against the
crowd having this ability having this capacity renders
any excuse we just did what everyone else
was doing we just did what daddy was
doing we just did what mommy was doing
no that too is going to be a
choice if you choose to do what daddy
and mommy were doing and everyone else in
your vicinity was doing you chose to give
up that tendency towards tawheed that tendency towards
acknowledging Allah as your Rabb that choice that
fatal choice of giving up your freedom and
just flowing with the flow that is a
choice to be held accountable for and so
for anybody to just blame it on fate
or inheritance that this is just what it
was Allah says no that's not fair you
know you know in your own experience a
very subjective very personal experience that you had
a choice and you could have not done
that we were just descendants coming after them
so are you just going to destroy us
because of what the people who were meaningless
living meaningless lives that rendered life itself to
be batil fabricators of falsehood are you just
going to take us to task that those
people were stimulus response mode they were living
leading life meaninglessly and so we just followed
in after them no your ability to live
in the direction of haqq in the direction
of meaningfulness rather than the batil that no
matter how many or no matter how much
is prevalent around you that ability is yours
that ability you have everyone has would you
destroy us because of what the did those
who rendered everything and that is how we
explain our that perhaps they may return that
these are being explained to you for you
to be able to see this capacity within
yourself and start that journey back and recite
to them the news of the one who
we blessed with the knowledge of our another
particular individual from bani israel interestingly what the
past couple of ayats speak to the human
beings ability that when all of what you
have around you is not leading to towards
still you have something within you that can
resonate that can allow for you to take
a stand against your environment and that's what
being human is you're not a plant you're
not a deer you're a human being now
we find another example in which a person
had the ayat of Allah in that the
orientation or the development or the commitment was
towards the ayats yet there was a there
was something that went around in his life
that led for him to just slip right
out that despite that ayat or the commitment
to that ayat or the understanding of those
ayats he was able to act in contradiction
to those ayats that tendency is very real
very human as well so if the previous
ayats are talking about a spiritual stance a
spiritual stand that you can take in the
face of whatever psychological, biological, social influences that
you are that are thrust against you that
are like waves trying to drown you sweep
you away the strength of that inner spirituality
to stand and push if that is alluded
to there then here that spiritual commitment and
how that spiritual commitment to ayats themselves there
is a very strong possibility of the psychological
the social and environmental to strip that away
from you to take that away from you
but what the word says or the word
particular that is used is that he detached
himself from them the individual had those ayats
but chose to detach himself some level of
choice somewhere some heedlessness some something but a
choice nevertheless in which he detached himself slipped
out of the ayats and so shaytan followed
him and he went astray if
we wanted we could have raised him through
them the ayat that he was granted given,
new, understood we could have raised him how
this commitment to the ayat of Allah promised
continuous growth continuous elevation but he clung to
the earth again indicative of how the aspects
of his personality that he preferred were those
which were more predominantly or overwhelmingly the the
somatic the biological the animal very real very
human very capable of overriding the
spiritual provided the spiritual lets them gives up,
lets go and he followed his desires gave
in became a person of immediate gratification at
the cost of what the spiritual could have
led for him to be provided of course
where does the spiritual get its strength from?
commitment to ayats commitment to ayats the spiritual
has a very strong relationship with an intellectual
commitment to signs so he clung to the
earth followed his desires فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ his
example is that of the dog إِن تَحْمِلْ
عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ so clinging to the earth following
desires living like an animal any previous commitment
to ayats any past history of a spiritual
journey or a spiritual growth now useless like
a dog if you chase it it lulls
out its tongue if you leave it alone
أو تَتْرُكْهُ يَلْهَثْ it lulls out its tongue
in the absence of any higher meaning a
spiritual commitment life is driven by desires it
is drives at moments it will take you
here at moments it will take you there
wherever it sees food wherever it sees fulfillment
of its of its desires and the inherent
nature of these desires is such if you
fight them they persist they increase and if
you let them be they increase you let
you chase the dog the tongue is still
out you leave the dog alone the tongue
is still out and so many of a
psychological problem that can develop into disorder because
of a vacuum in the spiritual because of
no higher commitment it is you're fighting a
losing battle the problem persists the more you
come at it with every tool that you
got it gets it remains the same and
of course if you're not coming at it
not trying to do anything about it it
remains the same if those same abilities are
channeled towards what was what the ayat were
pointing towards something meaningful something spiritual then that
tongue can go back in then that that
persistence that insistence on hedonism what is the
essential nature of hedonism of this pleasure pleasure
pleasure pleasure pleasure me me me me me
myself I it's it's a vicious cycle in
so many different ways the more you feed
it the hungrier it gets the more you
fight it the more aggressive it gets either
way the tongue is out the idea is
to detach be reflect reattach reattach to what
something spiritual something higher something meaningful and with
time the dog's tongue is going to go
back in this is the parable of the
people who deny our ayat who reject our
ayat so relate these stories perhaps they may
reflect again how these stories add up or
what how do they make sense desires spirituality
meaning animal type of living reflect think relate
connect wretched is the example of the people
who denied our signs and they're wrong only
but themselves that they had that potential to
be that we could have raised them with
it but they chose not to their own
that how great were these how strong were
these provided that they took what the offered
them in the form of this recognition in
the form of this pursuit in the form
of this not living on drives to live
on drives is what to live on instincts
to live on stimulus as soon as the
stimulus appears outside the drive inside drives you
towards it what is i have to do
i ask tell you to reflect think choose
make sense of it come to conclusions and
then pick yourself up and move even when
the inner instinct is not exactly going towards
it that readily it wants to go towards
the immediate gratification you pull at it you
pull at it and eventually even that which
is a religious drive inside of you a
spiritual drive inside it catches up it catches
on it is able to bring the rest
in in sync where they're supposed to be
and then in progression towards good becomes habitual
and when that becomes habit there's always higher
goals to go towards and the will give
you that as well and then that's consistent
progress consistent growth whoever Allah guides
that's the person who's guided he's the one
guided وَمَن يُطْلِلْ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ and whoever
he misleads these are the one they're the
real losers وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الْجِنِّ
وَالْإِنِّ and we have prepared especially for *
many jinn and human beings لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ they
have hearts لَا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا but they do
not understand with them so again what is
human is to be able to understand, make
sense of things وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُونٌ لَا يُبْصِّرُونَ بِهَا
they have eyes they don't see with them
a dog sees a car coming moves out
of the way that's not the seeing being
spoken of really seeing seeing things and then
understanding what they mean seeing things as higher
level of ayaat higher level of signs not
just the immediate threat and danger that they
have to offer the immediate pleasure that they
have to offer that sort of sign recognition
animals are capable of higher level sign recognition
that's understanding, conceptualizing believing, planning carrying yourselves
in a particular direction trusting all of what
is human وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُونٌ لَا يُبْصِّرُونَ بِهَا they
have ears but they don't hear with them
أُولَئِكَ كَلْأَنْعَامْ بَلْهُمْ أَضَلْ they are like cattle
more astray worse than cattle because cattle are
doing exactly what cattle were supposed to do
and now you have human beings who are
not supposed to be like cattle but they're
like cattle eyes, ears ability to understand reflect,
conclude believe that's what makes us human and
that is what we would do interestingly enough
in a lot of our job pursuits, academic
pursuits we would use our ears, eyes and
we would think a year ahead, two years
ahead five years ahead we would look at
those consequences and shape ourselves and our society
so that we live more responsibly with those
ends in mind and that's what allows human
society to be not like cattle it is
a matter of taking those same faculties further
أُولَئِكَ كَلْأَنْعَامْ بَلْهُمْ أَضَلْ أُولَئِكَ كَلْأَنْعَامْ بَلْهُمْ أَضَلْ
but a refusal to do that is to
live like cattle even more astray أُولَئِكَ هُمُ
الْغَافِلُونَ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ these are the people,
these are the ones who are really heedless
وَلِلَّهِ الْأَثْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَةُ وَلِلَّهِ الْأَثْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَةُ and to
Allah belong the most excellent names how the
spiritual capacity within the human beings that knows
أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ that knows Allah being Rabb that
when it relates with the ayat of Allah
is capable of ensuring that the human being
grows that which is how is it relating
to those ayat of Allah the قلوب with
which you understand the eyes with which you
see the ayat, the ears with which you
hear the ayat and that interaction that dialogue
with the ayat results in that person identifying
what is so meaningful about them what Allah's
Rabbubiyah demands of them and progresses in that
direction and how this entire scheme or schema
is intricately tied in with the أَثْمَاءُ of
Allah with the attributes of Allah because it
is with those attributes that you relate that
you that Allah is not a concept, he
is a personal relationship or not just a
concept there is of course a conceptual dimension
that we will work with, understand look to
develop better but then developing that personal relationship
and you will find last رَقُوب when the
the human personality is again described in a
in a very unique way, that passage too
concludes with the أَثْمَاءُ الحُسْنَةُ, the beautiful names
of Allah فَدْعُوهُ بِهَا so call on him
through those names again the hint the implicit
within the آيات that those attributes of Allah
and relating with those attributes of Allah what
that offers to your personality to your personal
growth, to your spiritual growth تُخَلِّقُ بِأَخْلَقِ اللَّهِ
to adorn yourselves with the attributes of Allah
and we said this before that inevitably whatever
your understanding of Allah is whatever it is
for an atheist there is some understanding, some
religious some theology, unconscious undeveloped
whatever, something is there, it reflects in their
routine in their behavior in their attitude how
they are with others how they are towards
life it necessarily reflects it is inevitable you
see a person behaving a certain way it's
what they understand about God they're acting out
how they think God is the more our
understanding of Allah is refined to a deeper
understanding, deeper relationship, deeper connection with His Asma'
with His beautiful attributes the more we will
be able to elevate, grow towards that potential
become مُقَرَّبُون those closest to Allah as close
as humanly possible and so many places we
will see Rasulullah ﷺ being identified with the
beautiful names of Allah Allah is رؤوف رحيم
رؤوف رحيم is used for Rasulullah ﷺ as
well Allah is رحمة the source of رحمة
Rasulullah ﷺ is رحمة للعالمين Allah is رب
العالمين Rasulullah ﷺ is رحمة للعالمين there is
so much that you will see كان خلقه
قرآن Rasulullah's character is his Qur'an he
is an embodiment of the Qur'an what
is the Qur'an?
كلام الله and what is the كلام representative
of أسماء الحسن a كلام, a speech of
an individual is reflective of their attributes and
if that speech is the character of a
person that person is Rasulullah then he is
adorned with the attributes of Allah and so
how he relates with humanity is what he
understands Allah to be, that is his religious
experience expressing itself in his conduct and he
is bearing witness to Allah with his conduct
that's shahada at the highest level, shahada at
the very basic level that everyone does the
animals do it the birds do it the
plants do it, the mountains did it, shahada
with the tongue, Abdullah bin Ubayy did it
and so many others shahada with your conduct
in your life and death ولله الأسماء الحسن
so to Allah belong the most excellent names,
the most beautiful names again the حسن in
Allah's names and the محسنين as the standard
or the goal set for the مسلمين and
the مؤمنين and then the محسنين the مسلمين
looking to become the مؤمنين looking to become
the محسنين فدعوه بها now that becomes more
of a possibility when this relationship of prayer,
this relationship of du'a, du'a the
way Rasulullah made it, du'a the way
all the Prophets of Allah made it, where
du'a is not just when they have
their hands raised up and they're imploring and
calling on Allah but du'a is also
when they're working towards the fulfillment of what
they ask for, bracketed between their du'as
like ritual du'as is their effort to
make those du'as come true they're doing
their part, they're playing their part and in
playing their part they're making du'a they're
responding to Allah and Allah is responding to
them in the results that He gives their
efforts and then they respond to that and
this dialogue that their life is, dialogue with
Allah, dialogue with Allah's attributes being able to
perceive through your experiences in life this was
I just saw the rahmah of Allah I
just saw the maghfirah of Allah I just
saw how afoob Allah is I just saw
how wadood Allah is I just saw how
azizun zuntiqam Allah is I just saw how
kahirun fawqa ibadih Allah is I just saw
how to be able to see that, to
refine our eyes our ears and our hearts
to have so that our lives are this
dialogue that we're having with Allah and responding
accordingly walillahil asma'ul husna to Allah belong
the most excellent names fad'u hubiha call
on him through them I've said this before,
I'll say this again if your understanding of
Allah is what you understood as a 12
year old or a 13 year old or
a 10 year old or an 8 year
old and it hasn't grown since if it
hasn't become more than what you read from
a piece of paper or a book or
a lecture if it hasn't become personal that's
something to be worried about wadharu allatheena yulhidoona
fee asma'ihi so leave those alone those
who distort his names this ilhaad in the
asma' of Allah as is manifest in what
they're making dua to what they're relying upon
what they're engaged in a dialogue with fabrications
distortions falsehood for a lot of them God
is playing a joke or the world is
a joke reality is a joke, it's meaningless
and so is their life as a response
to that the ithim that they have associated
with Allah is that what he does is
baqil and so that is seen in their
lives that is reflected in their lives they
are the mubthiloon they will be paid back
for what they used to do in the
names of the names of their gods and
of them of the ones that we have
created there is a group that guides to
haq truth truth, meaningful truth consequential truth
truth that has a bearing in your life
and in accordance with that truth they are
just they're exacting justice in opposition to zul
there is adl there is adl they're giving
it the due right that the haq deserves
those who reject our signs step by step
we will progressively lead them from where they
won't even know they won't know what hit
them how they came to their own destruction
And we, Allah said, I give them respite.
For sure, my plan is very strong.
Did they never reflect?
Their companion is not possessed.
He is but a clear warner.
He is just bringing a warning, articulating what,
if you were honest with yourselves, somewhere your
personal experiences should have shown you.
The matter of reflecting on them and then
what he's bringing, putting it together, putting it
together.
See what makes sense.
أَوَلَمْ يَنظُرُوا فِي مَلَكُوتِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَدْ هَبْتِي نَعْتْ
سِينَ؟
The kingdom of the heavens and the earth,
the Malakoot Al-Sama, وَمَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِن
شَيْءٍ And everything Allah has created, وَأَنْ عَسَاءٍ
يَكُونَ قَدْ اِقْتَرَبَ أَجَلُهُمْ And have they never
considered that it may well be that their
appointed time is just around the corner?
That what Rasulullah ﷺ brings as Indhaar, as
a warning, generally as truth, and how what
you experience and see in the Malakoot Al
-Samawati wal-Ard, you put it all together.
Does it not tell you the time is
running out?
That you are to respond and live more
meaningfully than you are?
فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ So what message, what
are they waiting for after this that they're
going to believe in?
What more do they want?
مَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ So whoever
Allah misleads, no one can guide.
وَيَغْرُهُمْ فِي تُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ And He leaves them
in their transgression, wandering blindly.
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ السَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَاهَةٍ They ask you
about the hour.
When is it going to be established?
When is it going to come?
قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِنَّ رَبِّهِ Tell them, Ya
Rasulullah, that the ilm for that is with
My Rabb.
لَا يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْطِهَا إِلَّا هُوَ No one can
reveal it except at its time, except Him.
No one can reveal it at its time
except Allah.
That's His prerogative, His decision, His choice, His
plan.
You're asking me as if I'm God.
No, that's not.
You're getting it wrong.
لَقُلَتْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ Heavens and the earth
are pregnant with it.
It is like they're about to come to
term.
And when that delivery happens, when the akhirah
is delivered from the heavens and the earth,
لَا تَأْتِيكُمْ إِلَّا بَغْتَهَا It will fall on
you all of a sudden.
يَتْأَلُونُكَ كَأَنَّهُ حَفِيٌّ عَنْهَا They ask you as
if you are familiar with it.
قُلْ إِنَّمَا عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ Tell them straight
out, Allah is the One.
He's the One who knows it.
He has the knowledge for it.
وَلَكِنَّ هَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمْنُ But most people
don't know.
وَلَا أَمْلِكُ لِنَفْسِ نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا Tell them,
I have within my power nothing to bring
any benefit or harm even to my own
self.
إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ اللَّهِ Except the power that
Allah has given, except with what Allah wills,
what He has given me, it is dependent.
وَلَوْ كُنْتُ عَلَمُ الْغَيْبِ لَسْتَكْثَرْتُ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ If
I had the knowledge of the unseen, I
would have had an abundance of wealth.
I would have amassed all good for myself.
وَمَا مَتْسَنِيَسُ And no harm would ever have
touched me.
I would never have allowed, why would I
put myself through pain?
Why would I put myself through difficulty?
Why would I choose?
I would avoid it.
That would be the natural thing to do,
but that's not.
You see how my life is in the
hands of somebody else.
إِنْ أَنَا إِلَّا نَبِيِّنُمَا بَشِيرٌ I am nothing
but a warner and a bearer of glad
tidings.
لِلْقَوْمِ يُؤْمِنُونَ For a people looking to believe.
For a people inclined to believe.
If that's you, I have something to offer
you.
If not, then stop making ridiculous demands of
me.
هُوَ الَّذِي فَلَقَكُمْ مِن نَفْسٍ وَاحِظَةٍ Allah is
the one, He's the one who created you
from one individual.
وَجَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا And from that individual, He
made its mate.
يَسْكُنَ إِلَيْهَا So that he can live with
her.
Find a place, find a stability, find a
سُكُون And the word is, from it derives
a house as a place of stability.
From a سُكُون, a feeling of stability.
To find that, to find that deliverance from
anxiety in relationship, particularly a marital relationship.
فَلَمَّ تَغَشَّاهَا So then when he covers her,
حَمَلَتْ حَمْلًا خَفِيفًا She carries a light burden,
she becomes pregnant, but it is imperceptible.
People cannot see that she's pregnant.
فَمَرَّتْ بِهِ So she walks around with it
unnoticed.
فَلَمَّ أَفْقَلَتْ But when the burden grows heavy,
دَعَوَ اللَّهَ رَبَّهُمَا Both of them prayed to
their, to Allah, their Rabb.
لَإِنْ آتَيْتَنَا صَالِحًا If you grant us a
good child, a healthy child.
لَأَنَ كُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ We would definitely be
of the grateful ones.
An indication to another dimension of the human
personality.
There's like a whole, you can write a
book in psychology with this surah, with just
this surah.
The spiritual unconscious.
That when it is afflicted, that when the
human being is in dire straits and desperate
situations, reflexively, instinctively, call out to Allah.
Hade in its instinctive expression.
And that's okay.
That's great.
That's instinctive.
So it's not all that great.
What matters is carrying that.
When that phase passes, to remember it, recollect
it, infer from it.
What I experienced, what I exhibited, it is
a reflection of some truth from within me.
And now I have to consciously, deliberately carry
it forward.
Even if the zeal or the desperation is
not coming from within as it used to.
I don't feel like it the way I
used to.
But just what I did feel like, that
is a sign of something, some spirituality that
I'm predisposed to.
I want to look to explore that, find
that again, minus the desperation.
I don't have to have, it doesn't have
to be like a life and death situation
for me to live that.
How about that becomes routine?
What is that?
What is life going to look like then?
The commitment that I made in that state.
How about realizing that?
لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمَا صَالِحًا So when
Allah does bless them with a good, healthy
child, جَعَلَا لَهُ شُرَكًا فِي مَا آتَاهُمَا They
associate partners with Him in what He has
given them.
Now that commitment is gone.
What are those partners?
They may be deities, fair enough.
But then whatever it is that that, in
that state was committed to Allah, whatever that
commitment of shukr, whatever deal that was struck,
that bargain, whatever that was, when the desperation
is over and all of what you had
committed or signed, when it starts going hither
and thither, and everywither, everywhere, other than Allah,
that's, those are our hidden idols.
فَتَعَالَ اللَّهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ But Allah is exalted
far above what they associate.
أَيُّشْرِكُونَ مَا لَا يَخْلُقُ شَيْئًا Do they associate
with Him those that create nothing?
I mean, what is it that all of
these other priorities that replace Allah, that displace
Allah, what power, what strength, what do they
have?
وَهُمْ يُخْلَقُونَ The other they themselves are created,
their dependency, their weakness.
Really, that's going to bail you out?
وَلَا يَسْتَطِعُونَ لَهُمْ نَصْرًا And neither do they
have any ability to help them.
وَلَا أَنفُسَهُمْ يَنْصُرُونَ Nor can they even help
themselves, that they have their own limitations.
And those limitations are apparent as to how
limited the limitations are.
You really want to put yourselves in those
boats?
وَإِن تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَاءِ And even if you
call them to guidance, لَا يَتَّبِعُكُمْ They will
not follow you.
وَإِن تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَاءِ It is all the
same for you.
وَإِن تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَاءِ أَدْعَوْتُمُوهُمْ أَمْ أَنْتُمْ صَامِلْتُونَ
Whether you call on them, or you remain
silent.
وَإِن تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَاءِ هِنَا الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن
دُونِ اللَّهِ Indeed, all those whom they call
on other than Allah.
So there is this relationship of du'a
with Allah, His attributes, and what it has
to offer.
And that takes into perspective the world, the
life that you see around yourself, your own
life in its entirety.
And then there is these interactions or this
reliance, this commitment to something that is so
limited and reliance upon that.
Considering for it to have some absolute power
more than what it's worth, what is that
going to give you?
How much stronger is that going to make
you?
The relationship with the Asma'ul Husna, it
has the potential of making you people of
Ihsan, Muhsinun.
Become Ghafoor, become Rahim, become Ra'oot, become
Rahma.
Become all of those things.
What is this anything other that you're making
the absolute end for yourselves?
What's the best it can give you?
إِبَادٌ أَمْثَالُكُمْ They are Ibad just like you.
فَدْعُوهُمْ So go ahead and call on them.
فَلِيَتَّجِيبُوا لَكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ And let them
respond to your call if you are true.
Let's see what's the best they can give
you.
Let's see how better off you are in
terms of your person and what you can
give to the world and how strong you
become after you have committed yourself to anything
short of Allah, in place of Allah.
أَلَهُمْ أَرْجُلُ يَمْشُونَ بِهَا Do they have feet
by which they walk?
أَمْ لَهُمْ أَيْدٍ يَبْطُشُونَ بِهَا Or do they
have hands by which they strike?
أَمْ لَهُمْ أَعْيُنُوا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا Or do they
have eyes by which they see?
أَمْ لَهُمْ أَذَانُوا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا Or do they
have ears by which they hear?
قُلِ ادْعُوا شُرَكَأُكُمْ Tell them, call on your
shuraka, your associates.
ثُمَ كِيدُونِي فَلَا تُنْظِرُونَ So then jointly, all
of you get together, you and your gods
and everything else and plot against me.
Don't give me a chance.
Don't give me a respite.
You have belief in your superstitions?
By all means, go all out in those
beliefs.
Bring the kitchen sink against me.
I'll see what you're made of.
إِنَّ وَلِيَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ الْكِتَابِ My protector
is Allah, the one who sent down the
book.
See, Allah is challenging the mushrikeen and saying
all of what you hold as idols, essentially,
they're not able to respond.
They're not able to do anything, hear, see,
affect any change, any real change in the
world.
Whereas Rasulullah ﷺ, his god, his Allah, he's
revealed the kitab.
The kitab which manifests, which expresses, brings together
what you've experienced in the rest of your
life as well.
And what you, if you were to reflect
on the creation of the heavens and the
earth and what Rasulullah has brought, bring all
of those ayat together, you would see that
it is a manifestation of, and these are
ayat of a god who sees, a god
who hears, a god who responds.
Specifically in his articulated word which the Qur
'an is, you see responses coming up.
Response to Badr, response to Uhud, response to
Ahzab, response to Rasulullah ﷺ looking at the
heavens, response to the questions of the Yahud,
response, response, response.
You see the god being alluded to as
the one who has power to affect changes
in the world, something your deities are incapable
of, or your conceptions, whatever it is that
other than Allah.
He's able to affect a progression in this
world that is actually moving somewhere.
And he's Subhanahu wa ta'ala intimately concerned
with what goes on with it.
What have you got?
He's Rasulullah's friend.
In Rasulullah ﷺ's life, his friendship, the presence
of his friend, the influence of his friend,
the seeing and hearing capacity of his friend,
the power of his friend is visible, palpable.
وَهُوَ يَتَوَلَّ الصَّالِحِينَ And not just Rasulullah ﷺ,
Saliheen, people who do good, he's their friend.
In their lives, you see his active involvement,
his power, his eye-seeing, whatever that vision
is, of course, not eyes-eyes, but whatever.
He sees, he hears.
وَهُوَ يَتَوَلَّ الصَّالِحِينَ وَالَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ And
while those whom you call on other than
them لا يَسْتَطِعُونَ نَصْرَكُمْ They don't have any
ability to help you.
وَلَأَنفُسَهُمْ يَنصُرُنَ They can't even help themselves.
وَإِن تَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَى الْهُدَاءِ So even if you
guide them towards guidance, لا يَسْمَعُوا They don't
listen.
They're so much like their gods, who don't
listen, don't respond.
وَتَرَاهُمْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَيْكَ You see them looking towards
you.
وَهُمْ لَا يُبْسِرُونَ But they can't see.
Oh my God, so much of a religious
experience being enacted.
They're exactly like their idols, dead.
وَذِي الْعَفْوَ So let it go, Ya Rasulullah.
Let it go.
Again, عفو being an attribute of Allah.
Himself.
وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْضِ And continue to enjoying what is
good.
وَأَعْرِبْ أَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ And turn away from these
people who are jahil in two ways.
A, غافل, ignorant.
Knowledge is something very alien to them.
Knowledge, as it comes from the ayat of
Allah, got nothing to do with it.
Therefore, they are people living on instincts.
جاهل, as defined as one who is emotionally
overwhelmed.
Just operating on that level of human personality.
Nothing, no choice, no control, no delay.
جاهلين So stay away from them.
عفو Being the expression which is the exact
opposite of what a jahil would do.
Forgiveness.
Because the similes says retaliate.
But ayat of Allah say, and your spiritual
capacity says, resist the temptation to retaliate.
وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْضِ وَأَعْرِبْ أَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ وَإِمَّا يَنْزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ
الشَّيْطَانِ النَّزْغُونَ And if an evil suggestion comes
to you from Shaytan.
Again, another very important dimension.
Brought up in the beginning of the surah,
with respect to Adam Alayhi Salaam, now being
brought in with respect to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
That this vulnerability of a demonic influence, of
demonic instigations and whispers, even to Rasulullah.
As far as revelation is concerned, that area
is cordoned off.
As far as the intuitive dimension of Rasulullah,
where Wahi comes in, where Allah's Kalam comes
in, there's no demonic access.
That is what distinguishes him from non-prophets.
As far as we're concerned, our intuitions, they
may be divine, they may be demonic.
They may be from Allah, as we know
in dreams for one thing, or they may
be from Shaytan.
But for the rest of our conduct, and
for the rest of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's
conduct, as Aisha Rabi'Allah Ta'ala Anha
asked him, he told her, were you just
visited by your Shaytan?
She's like, I have a Shaytan, Rasulullah.
He's like, yes, you do.
She's like, do you?
Something only she could do.
Do you also have one?
Like, yes, I do.
But mine has become Muslim.
It's a goal to have, right?
First, know your demon, understand him.
What is in my experience that is demonic?
So that I can even channel that towards
good.
Rasulullah did it.
And so whenever Shaytan visits you with an
evil suggestion, with a whisper, Fasta'idh Billah,
seek the refuge of Allah.
Seek the refuge of Allah.
And so, this is the 10th year of
prophethood.
Actively seeking the refuge of Allah since the
entirety of prophethood.
But then at some point, he's able to
influence that conversion where the Shaytan becomes Muslim.
But he's so acutely aware of those, that
that nazr from Shaytan, that he can make
it submit towards good.
How about that?
Fasta'idh Billah.
Seek refuge with Allah.
And seek refuge with Allah.
Yes, A'udhu Billah.
By all means, the words and the effect
and the spiritual effect that they have.
No, no contention with that.
No doubts about it.
But then, what you know about Allah, what
you relate with, with respect to his Asma
'ul Husna, what your prayer tells you about
him, the dialogue that you have with him,
the dialogue that Shaytan is trying to have
with you, bring Allah in that dialogue.
And in this, you are siding more towards,
looking to side more towards the divine, with
Allah.
Because within every human being, our understanding of
Allah, our conscience, representing what Allah wants
from us, of us.
And how, when we are particularly overwhelmed by
a demonic experience, by a demonic influence, we
don't want to talk about God.
We don't want to talk to God, even
by ourselves and within ourselves.
We want to avoid him.
We want to stay away from him.
Even if it's like a prayer is being
prayed, and dua is being made, it's going
to be very shockingly mindless.
That God forbid, God enters into that prayer.
And the demonic dialogue continues, and it builds,
and it develops.
And like, oh boy, seeking refuge with Allah
is welcoming Allah in that conversation.
In that otherwise entirely demonic conversation, pushing yourself,
despite what you feel like at that time,
to talk with him, about him, listen to
him, and be able to distinguish within yourself
what is divine and what is demonic.
And ask for his help, of course.
He is for sure hearing and knowing.
That you actively engage with him, and you
will see that that, if it is sincere,
because there's quite a possibility that the demonic
appears as the divine.
And that's typically what the demon looks to
do.
He comes in as the voice of conscience,
or the voice of God, too.
And that makes the challenge so much more
interesting, so much more difficult.
But yeah, you're worth it.
You're strong enough.
A loving, a loving, actively responding, participating in
that conversation.
And definitely those who have taqwa.
At the end of the day, it boils
down to that capacity of being self-aware.
And the self is so much more now,
after the surah.
Being aware of all of that.
So whenever they are assaulted by an impulse
from shaitan, they move, they remember, they do
a dhikr.
Not just with their tongues, but with their
hearts, with their minds.
It's intuitive, it's reflective, thought is involved.
All of that is going on.
fa-idhaahum mubasiroon And so they're able to
see.
Things make sense.
Jahala is prevented.
Being overridden by emotions, because emotions have this
tendency.
They're autonomic.
They're all or none.
They're action-contingent.
Nothing else is visible.
Fight or flight, or whatever else.
fa-idhaahum mubasiroon The dialogue with Allah, practice
of taqwa, opens up the door to be
able to remember, reflect, see.
wa-ikhwanahum yamuddoonahum fil ghayt But as for
their brother, Shayyafin, brother, shaitan's brother.
The one who's like, what does it mean
to identify with, to be a brother of
shaitan is to identify with shaitan.
To be, to think of your demonic influence
inside of you as yourself.
This is the way I am.
This is what I have to do.
So shaytan, shayyafin drag them into deeper and
deeper error.
So many walls and defenses and, oh God,
that evil hides behind.
huma laa yuqusiroon And they never relax.
It is an inveterate effort.
wa-idhaa lam ta'tihim bi-aayah And when
you don't bring them an ayah, ya Rasoolullah,
the ayah that they're demanding, the miracle, the
miracle, the miracle, the supernatural, whatever.
qaaloo they say, laa ulajta baytaha Why have
you not invented it?
qul innama tabiuma yuhaa ilayya mirrabbi Tell them
I only follow what is revealed to me
from my Rabb.
I don't possess him.
He owns me.
He's not my idol.
That's how you are with your God.
Stop projecting.
hadha basairu mirrabbikum This is an enlightenment from
your Rabb.
wahudan wa rahmatu liqawmi yu'minoon And a guidance
and a mercy for the people who believe.
wa-idhaa quri al qur'anu fastami'oo
lahoo wa answatoo And when the Qur'an
is recited, listen to it.
And keep silent.
laa'allakum surhamoon Perhaps you may be treated
mercifully.
So that cognitive element, the paying attention, the
looking to understand, how integral it is to
developing this relationship with the Qur'an, with
the ayaat of Allah, with Allah, with his
asmaa, with your taqwa, with what you're supposed
to do.
Everything in its place.
wadhkul rabbaka fee nafsika ta'dharroon wa kheefa And
remember your Rabb deep in yourself, in the
state of humility and fear, by yourself, meditative,
reflective, personal, nobody else around.
Develop that relationship.
Develop that relationship.
As strong as that dog potential is, that
tongue that lulled out no matter what, that
an'am potential is, becoming like cattle, the
shayateen influence is, if you're able to recognize
anything of the gravity of the situation and
how strong all of these forces within a
human personality are, then the indispensability of this
form of a salah, this form of a
dhikr, by yourself, you're humble and fearful.
wadoona jahri minal qawli Without raising the voice,
bil ghudubi wal aasal Both in the morning
and evening.
wala takum minal ghaafileen And don't be of
those who are heedless.
inna allatheena inda rabbik Those who are with
your Rabb, those who are, have this proximity
to Allah, closeness to Allah, those who are
adorned more and more with his attributes, and
because of those attributes, they're most like him.
la yastakbiroona an ibadatihi They do not arrogate
themselves.
They're not too proud for his ibadah.
They're not too good for it.
They know all there is to know, and
their ibadah is for like, you know, the
lesser folk.
No.
la yastakbiroona an ibadatihi wa yusabbihoonahu And they
do his tasbih.
walahu yasfidoon And they prostrate themselves They do
sajda only before him.
And how this manifests itself in person, in
real life, we will see in the next
two surahs.
wa aakhiru da'wana an alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen